 Leander Paes Turns 51 – Recalling the Indian Tennis Legend’s Iconic Achievements.webp)
The former tennis player put India on the world map of tennis
India has always been a cricket-crazy nation, and therefore, the majority rarely follows other sports. Among a plethora of sports, one such sport is tennis, which is hardly followed by the majority. Only those who are hardcore tennis enthusiasts follow everything related to tennis. Talking about tennis, today marks the 51st birthday of Leander Paes, one of the few tennis legends India has produced, and there is no doubt that the former tennis star put India on the tennis map.
On his birthday, it is imperative that people learn about his top achievements.
Paes turned professional in 1991, and within five years, he was on the podium, donning a bronze medal in the coveted Olympic Games of 1996. In Atlanta, Paes defeated Fernando Meligani in the men’s singles category. The bronze win was exceptional for the player, given he performed with an injured wrist. Back then, Paes became only the second Indian to win an individual medal in the Games for India after wrestler KD Jadhav, who won a bronze in the men’s freestyle bantamweight category in Helsinki in 1952.
#Throwback : The moment when Leander Paes became the first Asian to win a medal in tennis at the Olympics. A timeless inspiration for the pursuit of excellence.
— Indian Tennis Daily (ITD) (@IndTennisDaily) April 18, 2024
🎥 credit : Tacita YouTube@Leander pic.twitter.com/ZSfF2VKDkc
Despite retiring in 2020, Paes still holds the record for appearing the most number of times in the Games as a tennis player with seven appearances.
In the coveted Davis Cup, Paes holds the record for winning the most doubles, i.e., 43 trophies. He also holds the record for winning three Grand Slams in a year in the doubles category – Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles in the Wimbledon Open 1999 and the Men’s Doubles in the French Open 1999. Not to forget, he also won the Davies Cup doubles pair 24 consecutive times from 1997 to 2010. Not to forget, in his 30-year-long career, the Goan tennis star won 18 Grand Slam Doubles titles. Furthermore, when it comes to rankings, Paes spent as the No.1 ranked Doubles player for a record 1,295 weeks.
Paes is also the only player ever to win the Wimbledon Open in three different decades. In 1999, he won the doubles and mixed doubles, followed by two mixed doubles victories in 2003 and 2013. In 2015, he won another mixed doubles alongside Martina Hingis.
Let's relive the career achievements of Doubles legend of Indian Tennis - Leander Paes.
— Sammy (@Sammy58328) December 10, 2021
Boy from Kolkata with big dreams won Junior US Open and the Junior Wimbledon and turned pro in 1991. He was also a part of the 1993 Davis Cup team which made it to the Semi-Finals.
1/n pic.twitter.com/c2acsmQnrI
In his 30 years of tennis, Paes won 770 games with a winning rate of 62.8 per cent. He retired with eight doubles titles and 10 mixed titles, and not to forget, the Games bronze and 43 David Cups. These are the reasons why he has been included in the prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame—the first Indian to receive this honour.
For his contribution to tennis in India and representing the country on the global stage, he received two major national awards. Immediately after winning the bronze at the Games, he was honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, followed by the Padma Shri Award in 2001. He also received the Padma Bhushan in 2014, India’s third-highest civilian accolade.
As Paes turns 51, we wish him a healthy and long life and hope that he will continue to inspire the budding tennis players of India.
