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Leander Turns 27

A child arrived just the other day/ He came to the world in the usual way….

And so he did. On the 17th of June, twenty-seven years ago, a child was born into a very sport-inclined family. His father, Vece, was a national field hockey player, representing the country in the 1972 Munich Olympics. His mother, Jennifer, was a member of the basketball team. In his famous song, Cats in the Cradle, quoted above, Harry Conick Jr. sings that we all grow up to be our parents. If this was to be the case, little Leander Paes had some pretty big shoes to fill.

Harry Conick had it wrong. Some kids go way past their parents.

As Leander Paes celebrates his twenty-seventh birthday at his home in Orlando, Florida, he has a lot to be proud of. Though presently nursing a hand injury, he is in the middle of what will hopefully be a very long career. Already, he has achieved a great deal. Without diminishing their deeds in any way, its probably fair to say that he has done more to inspire tennis players in India than both the Amritraj and the Krishnan families. As the nation watched him lead his team and country to victory after victory in Davis Cup clashes over fancied and much higher ranked players, he gave a nation starved of heroes much to feel proud of.

(At this point, it is very hard to resist the urge to take a dig at our cricket team, but I will contain myself.)

His finest moment in tennis, according to father Dr. Vece Paes, was when he won the bronze medal for India at the Atlanta Olympics. Leander too rates this as his biggest achievement. Closely following this comes his Wimbledon junior title. Dr. Paes rates this triumph very highly because "Leander was only sixteen at the time." Third in a series of stars in the glittering night sky of Leander's tennis career is the memorable 1995 Davis Cup victory over France. Besides these of course, he has every reason to feel proud of his charming and highly successful partnership with Mahesh Bhupathi. Millions of Indians cheered the duo on as they chest-thumped their way to the finals of all four Grand Slam events last year - winning the French Open and Wimbledon - and became the world's premier doubles pair.

Sadly, a cloud has recently passed over their relationship, temporarily ceasing their partnership. Leander blames Bhupathi's coach, Enrico Piperno, for the split, since Piperno had been "badmouthing" him to Bhupathi. The duo will continue to represent the country together, at the Sydney Olympics and the Davis Cup, but will not join forces for ATP tournaments; at least for the remainder of the calendar year.

Indian tennis fans will be anxious for news of the state of Leander's injury. Dr. Paes estimates that it will, unfortunately, continue to keep him out of action for at least another two months. He should be back in action by mid-August and will, in all likelihood, make his comeback on the US hardcourt circuit.

So, will Leander Paes, post-injury, be the same force? Dr. Paes thinks it depends on how "hungry and motivated" he is. The question is how much more he wants to achieve and the answer to that will determine how long Leander stays in the game. Dr Paes expects his son to play competitive singles for another two or three years and doubles for another five years. "Leander is a great competitor and we expect that he will come back strongly", said a father who possesses an unshakable belief in his son's ability.

But will he? It is widely believed that Leander finds that extra bit of josh while playing Davis Cup or doubles; and finds it just a little bit harder to psyche himself up for singles play. Let's hope that this injury doesn't make that motivation any harder to come by for it would be wonderful to see him add more titles to his Hall-of-Fame triumph.

But until then, we have the Olympics to look forward to. And, dare we say it, a gold medal? Fingers crossed.