Leander Paes was born on June 17, 1973 in Kolkata. Leander Paes was a part of the professional circuit and started representing India in the Davis Cup fixtures from 1991. Leander made the whole of India proud in 1996 when he won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics. By achieving this feat, he became the first Indian in over 40 years to win a medal in an individual event.

Early Life of Leander Paes
Leander trained at the Britannia Tennis Academy in Chennai in 1985. He was coached by Dave O`Meara in the Academy. The youngster rose to fame in 1990 when he captured the Junior Wimbledon title and the No.1 ranking in junior tennis. Leander Paes was ranked as the World No. 6 in the ATP Doubles Ranking in 2008.

Career of Leander Paes
However, his singles career never scaled great heights though he almost always bailed India out of tough situations in Davis Cup ties. In the meantime, he and partner Mahesh Bhupathi joined forces and tasted great success in doubles winning a handful of grand slam titles. At one point of time, they were the No.1 tennis pair in the world. But certain personal differences forced them to part way curtailing what could have been a glorious chapter in Indian tennis. The two however always come together whenever representing India in Davis Cup ties. Even after his split with Mahesh Bhupathi, Paes continues to be a force on the doubles circuit and has even added to his tally of Grand Slam titles. The same can be said of Bhupathi also. However, the magic the duo created on court together has unfortunately been lost. Paes and Bhupathi may have parted ways some years back, but their influence on tennis was so strong that it is difficult to talk of them separately even today.

He had won in the Rotterdam and ATP Masters Series in Indian Wells taking his doubles tally to 38, as of May 2007. In 2007, Leander has won two Doubles and one singles and no losses in the Davis Cup. In 2008 he teamed up with Cara Black and won the 2008 US Open Mixed Doubles title. In 2009 he teamed up with Lukas Dlouhy and won the French Open and US Open Men`s Doubles titles. He won the 2010 Australian Open - Mixed Doubles title along with Cara Black. In 2010 he won the Wimbledon Mixed doubles with Cara Black. This made him India`s leading grand slam winner with a total of 12 grand slam titles.

For his great contribution to Indian tennis, Leander was conferred upon with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in the year 1996-1997.Some years in later on in 2001; the prestigious Padma Shri award was also bestowed upon him.

Leander`s Grand Slam success records include:

Men`s Doubles

Year	Championship	Partner	Year	Championship	Partner
1999	French Open Wimbledon	Mahesh Bhupathi Mahesh Bhupathi	2001	French Open	Mahesh Bhupathi

Mixed Doubles

Year	Championship	Partner	Year	Championship	Partner
1999	Wimbledon	Lisa Raymond (USA)	2009	French Open	Lukas Dlouhy
2003	Australian Open Wimbledon	Martina Navratilova (USA) Martina Navratilova (USA)	2010	U.S. Open	Lukas Dlouhy