Leander Paes Birthday: The only tennis player who won the country a medal in the Olympics, started playing at the age of 5

Leander Paes, the world’s most successful tennis player in India, is not dependent on any introduction. Please tell that together with Mahesh Bhupathi, he formed the world’s number one pair. Today i.e. on June 17, Leander Paes is celebrating his 50th birthday. Leander Paes has also got success in Grand Slam. He has 18 Grand Slams to his name. In 1996, Leander won the bronze medal in the Olympics. Leander Paes has played tennis for the country in the Olympics 7 times. Let us know about some interesting things related to the life of Leander Paes on the occasion of his birthday.

Birth

Leander Paes was born on 17 June 1973 in Goa. But Leander has been brought up in Kolkata. He started playing at the age of just 5. When Leander was 8-9 years old, he was interested in football. At the same time, when he was 12 years old, he was selected for the Junior Soccer Program of Europe. During that time Leander was told to go to Europe and play for some club. After which he returned back to his country and after coming here he started practicing tennis.

win like this

In the year 1991, Leander Paes went to Wujsburg, Germany. During that time he was 18 years old. The next day he had to play the tournament and it was very cold. But the storekeeper allowed Leander to practice at night. All the doors were closed, only one window was left open. So that in case of any kind of emergency, one can get out through the window. After which Leander kept practicing all night. After this, when he came to the field to play the match the next day, he won the match.

Made history in Olympics

Leander Paes created history by winning the bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. However, in the singles semifinals, Paes had to face defeat from Andre Agassi. But Paes won the bronze medal by defeating Fernando Ariel Meligeni of Brazil. Let us inform that with this victory of Leander, India had won a medal in the individual event in the Olympics after 44 years.

Such was the performance of Grand Slam

In 1999, Leander Paes won the doubles titles at Wimbledon and the French Open. In the same year he became the number one doubles player in the world. Then in the year 2001, Paes teamed up with Mahesh Bhupathi to win the French Open. In 2003, he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. This time his pairing was not with Mahesh Bhupathi but with Martina Navratilova. In 2006, Paes won the US Open title. Then in the year 2009, victory in the US Open men’s doubles and French Open tied the head of Paes.

father was also a player

Let us inform that Leander Paes’s father Ves Paes has also been a hockey and Olympian player. Wes Paes won the bronze medal by defeating the Netherlands in the Munich Olympics. At the same time, his mother Jennifer Paes has been the captain of the Indian team in the Asian Basketball Championship in the year 1980.

Know why the pair of Paes and Bhupathi broke up

The pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi is credited with increasing the popularity of tennis in India. The pair of both has created a lot of wonder. The pair of Bhupathi and Paes has brought many achievements to the country. After a time, both these tennis players started talking. While on the one hand the popularity of both was increasing, on the other hand the conflict between the two was also increasing. In the year 1999, where the pair of Paes and Bhupathi was called number one in the world, in the year 2006 the pair broke up. A series ‘Break Point’ has also been made regarding the relationship between these two.

Controversy

Leander Paes was living with model Riya Pillai since 2005. Both have a daughter Anaya as well. When their relationship broke up, Riya claimed that she was married. But Paes always denied getting married. When Paes and Rhea’s daughter Anaya is diagnosed with a brain tumour, Rhea demands alimony from Paes for her treatment. After which this dispute had reached the court.