Leander Paes

Leander Paes (born June 17, 1973) is currently one of the most successful players of the tennis Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubled circuits.

Leander Paes was born in Goa and brought up in Kolkata (then Calcutta). His mother, Jennifer Paes was a renowned basketball player and captain of the Indian team in the 1980 Asian Basketball Championships. His father, Vece Paes, was a hockey midfielder, representing the Indian team in the 1972 Munich Olympics, that won the bronze medal.

He joined the Britannia Tennis Academy, Chennai (then Madras) in 1985 where he was coached by Dave O'Meara. Leander shot into international fame when he won the 1990 Wimbledon Junior title and rose to No.1 in the junior world-rankings.

He turned professional in 1991.

Specialising in Doubles, he was ranked No.1 along with Mahesh Bhupathi.

Career Highlights

• 1990 - Wimbledon Boys title
• 1992 - Barcelona Olympics, reached quarter-finals of the doubles competition
• 1993 - Davis Cup, reached semi-finals
• 1996 - Atlanta Olympics, singles bronze-medallist
• 1997 - US Open doubles, reached semi-finals
• 1998 - reached doubles semi-finals of Australian, French and US Open
• 1999 - reached doubles finals of all the four Grand Slams, eventually winning at Wimbledon and French Open.
  Mixed doubles title at Wimbledon
• 2001 - French Open doubles title
• 2003 - Wimbledon and Australian Open mixed-doubles title along with Martina Navratilova