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Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi split

Ashok Tuteja in Dubai

The highly prosperous and exciting doubles partnership between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi is all but over, a Dubai daily claimed today.

Dr Vece Paes, Leander's father, was quoted as saying in The Gulf News that Paes and Bhupathi were not playing together on the ATP tour. ''However, they are open to partnering each other in the Davis Cup and Olympics.''

Dr Paes outlined the reasons for the split, saying ''as long as Mahesh retains Enrico Piperno as his coach, Leander is not open to a professional partnership. Thus, playing together for this year at least is out''.

Dr Paes claimed that Mahesh had initially agreed to drop Piperno as his coach and opt for Bob Carmichael, who is currently coaching Leander. ''Mahesh had made up his mind twice but reneged on the agreement claiming that he needs Piperno to accompany him on the tour after recovering from a shoulder injury. After having waited for six months, Leander decided to go ahead,'' he said.

When contacted by the daily, Krishna Bhupathi, Mahesh's father, also confirmed the split. ''Yes, they are not playing together. What the future holds, I do not know. There are no crystal balls. Mahesh is currently in Rome for the Italian open''.

When asked to throw light on the professional relationship between Mahesh and Piperno, Krishna commented, ''Piperno does accompany Mahesh but not as a coach. He is more like a manager.''

He also refused to read too much into the issue. ''When they played together, they did well. They will do well without each other. There is no big deal''.

But the Leander-Mahesh split will have far-reaching consequences. According to Dr Paes, ''They were a package deal. They were good friends and played great tennis together. They both lose in this split: there will be deficits in income as well as sponsorship. We marketed Mahesh and Leander as a team. Now we have to re-think our strategy while marketing just Leander. The same holds true for Mahesh.''

The newspaper said it is largely believed that Mahesh is his own man while taking decisions and does not consult his back-up team. Krishna Bhupathi shed some light on this fact, saying ''Mahesh's vote carries more weight. How can I say that he should not travel with Piperno?''

He said, ''To Mahesh, Piperno is like a court jester. He makes him laugh and keeps him relaxed. Mahesh has gone through six months of trauma with his injuries and not earned a single dollar. He finds Piperno to be good for him. How can I say no to that?''

Dr Paes was, however, willing to keep the door open for Mahesh. ''In professional sport, you cannot shut the door on anything. Mahesh is injured and he has to get through with his rehab. We will then take things as they come''.

UNI

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