Is Leander Paes losing himself to the lust for gold dust?

The rather sorry exit of Leander Paes from the Australian Open raises serious questions about the commitment of the ageing star to a game he has played with spirit, passion and pride over the past two decades. At a time when Indian tennis is busy tumbling down the rabbit hole, Leander’s insipid play this year can only add to the growing woes of the depleted team. Paes, who was defending doubles champion with Radek Stepanek, lost 3-6, 5-7 in the first round of the event this year. He was seeded second in the mixed doubles event, but playing with Elena Vesnina the Indian made another ignominious 3-6, 2-6 exit, this time in the second round of the mixed doubles event, to pack his bags from the Australian Open. Leander has lost in straight sets in both these events, as he and his partners sank without a fight in the tamest fashion possible.

Considering that Leander has chosen to strengthen the long arms of AITA instead of joining forces with the rebel group, it is only fair to expect the veteran to  keep his focus on the game in the lead up to the Asia/Oceania Zone Group match against Korea, where he is leading a depleted side in a battle to keep the team from slipping further down the Davis Cup food chain. Victory and defeat are two sides of sporting currency, and while defeat in itself cannot be questioned, the manner of it and the questionable levels of his fitness are a genuine cause for concern. It is especially so, since Leander will have to shoulder a significant part of the burden if the hastily assembled Indian team, comprising of Leander Paes, Purav Raja, V.M. Ranjeet, Vijayant Malik and reserves Arjun Kadhe and Ashwin Vijaraghavan, is to make a fist of it against the Koreans lead by  Suk-Young Jeong (ranked 338) and Yong-Kyu Lim (439).

At the beginning of this year, the 39-year old has made news with his silver screen debut in Ashok Kohli’s Rajdhani Express, that turned out to be a damp squib at the box office. Naturally, there were murmurs in Chennai where Leander lost in the first round of the Aircel Chennai Open, since the star had the movie premiere and the release all scheduled for later the same week. Subsequently, Paes won a solitary match in Sydney before offering a walkover in the next round to David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco.

It has been the kind of start that barely inspires any confidence, just days ahead of the tie against Korea. Besides, there are lingering doubts over his fitness that could further compromise India’s chances in the tie to be held in New Delhi between 1st and 3rd February. There is no doubt that Leander has been the mainstay of India’s Davis Cup heroics over the past many years, some of his performances embedded in the collective conscious of the Indian tennis fan for the sheer audacity and die-hard spirit of the star from Kolkata.

With the exception of the successfully concluded Maharashtra Tennis League, most of the news this month has been morose at best, morbid at its worst. The game took off on a downhill journey ever since the sordid drama that unfolded just ahead of the Olympics before metamorphising to the second phase on the sidelines of the Chennai Open. The one man who has stood firmly with the AITA has been Leander Paes, who chose not to join forces with the growing rebellion. An experienced professional in the league of Leander needs no lessons about the Davis Cup and the varied challenges that come with it.

If Leander has a principled disagreement with the group of eight fighting the AITA, the best way to make a statement would be to give his best on the court and carry the rookie team on his broad shoulders when they meet Korea in New Delhi. But his performances in the recent weeks suggest that Leander may have taken his eye off the ball as he is caught out between his two careers – tennis and films. Having accepted the responsibility of playing for the nation during these troubled times, the least Leander can do is to put in the hard miles on the court between now and the first week of February to do justice to our national colours.

One can only hope that the seasoned player is able to subordinate his Bollywood dreams at least temporarily, and focus on his fitness and form ahead of the Davis Cup tie. The concern stems not from his losses, but the manner of those losses – all the way since the Chennai Open in the first week of January.