On the verge of becoming first Indian to win 12 grand slam titles, Leander Paes is keen to rewrite the history books
On the verge of becoming first Indian to win 12 grand slam titles, Leander Paes is keen to rewrite the history books
A 12th Grand Slam title will only be fitting for a man, who has given his all and beyond on the tennis court for over two decades. However, Leander Paes is not prepared to count his chickens before they are hatched.
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Defending champions and third seeds, Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy beat Austria's Julian Knowle and Israel's Andy Ram 6-4, 6-2 at the Roland Garros yesterday to enter their second successive French Open final.
They meet second seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the summit clash, who beat fourth seeds Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman 6-0, 6-3 in the other semi-final.
Paes believes he and Dlouhy have a great chance of beating Nestor-Zimonjic.
"We have played them a few times before and know them well, so hopefully we should be in a good position to do well," Paes told MiD DAY last night. India's most capped Davis Cupper refused to take anything for granted nevertheless. "Though I have the experience and Lukas is in great touch, I'd like to believe that in a Grand Slam final anything can happen.
"Every match is different and equally important. More than anything else, we just need to go out there and have some fun," he added.
Paes attributed his fine run in the tournament to partner Dlouhy's superb form. "Lukas is playing really well. Even yesterday (in the semi-final) he complemented me really well and that's why we made it look easy in the end even though it was not," said Paes, who will be playing his fourth French Open final having won all the three he's contested earlier.
The 36-year-old four-time Olympian currently shares India's highest Grand Slam winner's tag with erstwhile partner Mahesh Bhupathi ufffd both are on 11 slams. Paes has won six men's doubles and five mixed doubles title, and the prospect of winning Slam No 12 is mouth-watering, admitted Paes.
"More than looking at numbers, I take pride in re-writing the history books. But I would not say that 12 is just a number. It would be great to achieve it and sometimes numbers are really great," he signed off.
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