He has earned sobriquets of ‘ageless’ and ‘evergreen’, which may not be wildly novel or creative but fit him to the proverbial T. Indian tennis sensation Leander Paes, the grand old man of the doubles court, made history notching up the US Open mixed doubles title with Swiss partner Martina Hingis to become the format’s most successful male player in the Open era.

The tricolour flew at the US major once again, thanks to 42-year-old Pales who now has nine Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. This is one, surpassing Mahesh Bhupathi’s record of eight titles. The fourth-seeded Indo-Swiss pair edged past unseeded Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey 6-4, 3-6, 10-7, and won their third major title together this season. With this, Paes and Hingis, who also won the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles earlier, become the first mixed doubles team since 1969 to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same year.