 Leander Paes has been consistent for many years now in the world of tennis. He, along with Sania Mirza, had represented India in all the major grand slams held all throughout the year including the Australian Open, Australian Open etc. For three decades he had been making India proud in the matches he played.
Early Life of Leander Paes Leander was born in Calcutta, India, on 17th June 1973 to a Goan father. Vece Paes and Jennifer Paes were his parents. He was raised in Kolkata (Calcutta) and educated at La Martiniere Calcutta, and the St. Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta. His parents were both sports persons. Vece was a midfielder in the bronze medal-winning Indian field hockey team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. His mother captained the Indian basketball team in the 1980 Asian basketball championship. Paes enrolled with the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy in Madras (Chennai) in 1985, where he was coached by Dave O'Meara. In this academy he developed as a player and became one of the best young players in tennis. 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. Personal Life of Leander Paes Paes had dated Bollywood actress Mahima Choudhury for few years. He then had a live-in relationship with Rhea Pillai, with whom he also has a daughter but later there was a rumour that they were not married and would be separating.  Early Playing Career of Leander Paes
Paes first won titles at the Junior US Open and the Junior Wimbledon and he turned professional in 1991. He rose to the number 1 in the world junior rankings. In 1992, he reached the quarter finals of the doubles event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Ramesh Krishnan. Paes began a doubles partnership with countryman Mahesh Bhupathi in 1994. In both 1997 and 1998, the duo captured six Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) doubles titles out of the eight tournament finals they reached during each year. Paes and Bhupathi advanced to the doubles finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in 1999, winning the French Open and Wimbledon but losing in the Australian and U.S. Opens. That year saw the pair ascend to the number one ATP doubles ranking, but personal problems between them soon led to the dissolution of their full-time partnership. Leander Paes’ Career in Doubles Paes has won 55 doubles titles so far and has been a runner up 39 times during his long and illustrious career. He had played with over 100 different players in his doubles career. His doubles career titles are as follows:
His mixed doubles title are 17 in number. They are as follows:-
 Paes’ Davis Cup Career
In the year 1991 Paes played his first Davis Cup match partnering Zeeshan Ali in a doubles match against the Japanese team in a match that went on to have five sets. He is considered one of the top Davis cup players for his country, with a record of 89-32 overall, as of July 2015. He played an important role in the Indian Davis cup team that reached the World Group from 1991-1998. He was part of the Indian Davis Cup team that reached the semifinals of the 1993 Davis Cup with wins against Switzerland and France, eventually losing to Australia. He teamed up with Bhupathi to beat Hirszon and Ivanisevic of Croatia in 1995, Martin Damm and Petr Korda of the Czech Republic in 1997, Nicolas Massu and Marcelo Rios of Chile in 1997, Broad and Tim Henman in 1998, and Simon Aspelin and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in 2005. In 2007, Leander has three wins (two doubles and one singles) and no losses in the Davis Cup.  Paes and Mahesh Bhupati
Both Paes and Bhupati when paired was called the "Indian express" by many. Their relationship was very strong for few years but they detached themselves from playing with each other later. But in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they decided to play together for their country, and lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. In 2011, the "Indian Express" pair won the doubles title at Chennai Open. They reunited to play in a Grand Slam Tournament after nine years and claimed runners-up in the 2011 Australian Open and reached the semifinals in the year-end championships. The Indian duo has a 303-103 career record together. They have a higher success rate against various top teams. They have a Davis Cup record of longest winning streak in doubles, with 23 straight wins. The Davis Cup record of Paes and Bhupati are as follows:
Acting Career of Leander Paes Leander made his film debut in Ashok Kohli's Rajdhani Express, a socio-political thriller. He represents a character named Keshav. The film aspires to raise grave questions about the current scenario of our society at large and immoral tendencies of people but all of that gets overshadowed by poor editing, over-the-top performances, pointless scenes and illogical dialogues. He tries his best to fit into the role he gets to portray but given his image and body language it doesn't work for him. Actor Amitosh Nagpal has dubbed for Paes as Hindi is not his forte. (Last Updated on : 29-02-2016) |
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