Leander Paes: India's evergreen superstar
Indian tennis icon Leander Paes became the most successful player in the history of Davis Cup, recording his 43rd doubles win in the competition. On Saturday, in the do-or-die doubles rubber of the Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie against China in Tianjin, the Indian veteran teamed up with Rohan Bopanna to overcome the tough challenge posed by Mo Xin Gong and Ze Zhang 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(3).
The three set victory from the veteran duo set the tone for one of the greatest comebacks from the Indian Davis Cup contingent in recent years, after going 0-2 down to China in the singles rubbers on Day 1! Inspired by the doubles victory, youngsters Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran registered victories in their respective reverse singles matches to help India clinch the rubber 3-2.
The victory has propelled India into the World Group Play-offs. It would be the fifth time in a row since 2014 that they would be fighting to get into the elite 16-nation World Group. The last time they competed in the big league was in 2011.
Glory after long wait
The 43rd win came after a gap of 21 months for Leander! His previous victory in the Davis Cup was against Korea in July 2016 which had made him equal the Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli's record of 42 wins.
The Olympic Bronze medalist had two chances to add to his tally since then. The first instance came in September 2016 when India met Spain in the World Group Play-Off. Paes and his partner Saketh Myneni were up against the duo of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez. The Indian duo won the first set, pushed the second to a tie-breaker, before the Spanish pair took control of the game, winning in four sets.
Paes got another chance in February 2017 against New Zealand in Group I quarterfinals. This time teaming up with Vishnu Vardhan, the doubles specialist again went up in the first set before giving away the next three to the Kiwi pair of Artem Sitak and Michael Venus.
Fighting his way back
In August 2017, in the Asia Oceania Group 1 encounter against Uzbekistan, the seasoned campaigner was made to sit on the bench. The team management decided to field only 4 players, denying Paes another chance to stake a claim at glory in front of the home crowd.
The Indians advanced to the World Group Play-off perhaps for the first time without their most experienced player having a role to play. Unsurprisingly, the talks of curtains coming down on his illustrious Davis Cup career started doing rounds.
The fall in the ATP rankings didn't help either as the once No. 1 doubles player fell out of the Top 50. But the war veteran was not willing to give up. He went back to the ATP Challenger circuit for the rest of the 2017 season and won a couple of trophies teaming up with countryman Purav Raja. The same pair made it to the last 16 in Australian Open 2018 as well.
As 2018 progressed, Paes found a new partner in American James Cerretani. The pair lifted the Newport Beach Challenger trophy in the US and made it to the finals of the Dubai Open. These victories helped Paes move to 46 in the ATP doubles rankings and rightfully earned him a call-up to the Davis Cup squad against China.
Staggering numbers in Davis Cup
During his illustrious career spanning 28 years, Paes stitched the longest unbeaten winning streak of 24 matches in the Cup's history with his current non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi.
After making his debut in 1990, Paes carried the workload of playing on all three days (2 singles and 1 doubles) of a Cup tie on his shoulders till 2004. His overall record in the Davis Cup comprises 56 ties with a phenomenal win/loss (W/L) record of 91/35. Apart from the record of 43/13 in doubles, the ageless icon has an impressive W/L of 48/22 in singles as well.