India tennis ace Leander Paes dished out yet another virtuoso performance to win the US Open men's doubles trophy, taking his Grand Slam tally to 10, but his taste for success is far from being cloyed.
India tennis ace Leander Paes dished out yet another virtuoso performance to win the US Open men's doubles trophy, taking his Grand Slam tally to 10, but his taste for success is far from being cloyed.
He is India's most decorated tennis star and has achieved almost everything a player can dream of - 10 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic medal, Asian medals, most Davis Cup wins, a Khel Ratna Award, Padmashree Award - yet Paes craves for one more thing.
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"I still want to better my Olympic bronze," Paes told PTI in an interview after winning the US Open men's doubles title partnering Czech Lukas Dlouhy on Sunday.
"Doing well at the 2010 Asian and Commonwealth Games are immediate targets for next year," he added.
Paes had ended India's four-decade long wait when he won a bronze during Atlanta Olympics in 1996. It was India's first individual medal at Olympics since KD Jadhav's wrestling bronze in Helsinki Olympics in 1952.
Paes has a coruscating cupboard, which now boasts of 41 trophies including six men's doubles and four mixed doubles Grand Slam crowns but he is not content with basking in past glory.
"After a while titles and honours become a bit of a blur. What one craves for is to be able to give back to the game in a manner that makes a difference for future players.
"I am already looking at life beyond tennis and would like to be involved in grooming the next generation of players from India. My dream for the future is many more players from India in the main draw of Grand Slams. That too, not in doubles alone," Paes said.
Paes is already 36 and by the time he competes in the 2012 London Olympics, he would be nearing 40. The body would not be the same after playing for 18 years but he is still going strong.
Paes is a regular in top-10 of the ATP doubles ranking list. So what is it that keeps him going?
"Discipline, consistent hard work off the court and a healthy lifestyle are key to my fitness. I don't smoke or drink, am careful about what I eat and stay committed to a strenuous off-season training programme which keeps me Tour ready year after year.
"I carry my gym with me in my bag and I still workout every single day. I have also been very careful about nursing my body when I have been injured and going through extensive rehab to ensure I am fully fit when I take court again."
Asked for how long he can maintain such a high fitness level, he said," As of now my goal is the London Olympics. As long as I keep enjoying my tennis and even more importantly my off-court fitness regime - for you are nothing on court if you have not put in the sweat and toil preparing for it I will keep at it," he said.
Talking about the final match in which he and Dlouhy staged a remarkable comeback after being a set and 0-2 down against compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, Paes credited his partner for the win.
"We went into the match fired up but they were really playing well and did not offer us much of a chance in the beginning. Lukas was really fired up from the moment he went into the second set and actually told me that he wanted to start the set and take the pressure off me.
"He was the leader out there and instead of me saying much to him it was actually he doing a lot of the talking. It was a pleasant change. He told me, 'you just be solid with me today, and I'm just gonna take over and do it for you.' And he did," he said.
Paes had a great chance to win two titles but faltered in the mixed doubles final along with Cara Black, who looked off-colour that day. Paes, however, refused to blame his Zimbabwean teammate for the loss.
"Things are never as simple as they seem to be in professional sport. Cara was not the weak link or any such thing. To be honest our opponents played a great match. Let's give them credit for that," he said.
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