Leander Adrian Paes has been the flag-bearer of India's tennis for a long time now. Born in Goa on June 17, 1973, he has won many titles all over the world in the singles, doubles and the mixed doubles categories. Brought up in Kolkata, both his parents have sporting backgrounds. While his mother was a national-level basketball player, his father represented the Indian team in hockey at the 1972 Munich Olympics. He shot to international fame when he won the Wimbledon Junior title in 1990 and claimed the No.1 spot in the junior world-rankings.
The highpoint of his career came when in 1996,when he won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics. Among the many titles he has won in his illustrious career, mention made be made of the doubles titles at the 2006 US Open partnering Martin Damm, the 2001 French Open doubles title partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, the 1999 Wimbledon doubles title partnering Mahesh Bhupathi and the 1999 French Open doubles titles partnering Mahesh Bhupathi. He has won the Mixed Doubles crowns at the 2003 Australian Open partnering Martina Navratilova and the 1999 Wimbledon mixed doubles crown partnering Lisa Raymond.
His performance at the Davis Cup matches, when he represented India has been extraordinary, wherein he has repeatedly raised his game several notches beating many players ranked higher than him. He was a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in the year 1996-1997 and in 2001, he was awarded the Padma Shri.
On 8th September 2013, Leander Paes bagged the title of being the oldest male player to win the Grand Slam with the US Open Men's Double Trophy.
| Related Links |
| Famous Lawn Tennis Players in India | ||
| Jaidip Mukerjea | Vijay Amritraj | Ramanathan Krishnan |
| Ramesh Krishnan | Leander Paes | Sania Mirza |
| Rohan Bopanna | Mahesh Bhupathi | |
