Good Sports: PAES SETS DAVIS CUP RECORD
On the verge of turning 45, Leander Paes continues to win matches and solidify his status as the most successful Indian tennis player ever. On April 7, he set a Davis Cup record by winning his 43rd doubles match and propelling India to a 3-2 victory over China in the World Group Playoffs.
In setting the record, Paes broke a tie with Italian legend Nicola Pietrangeli, who won 42 Davis Cup doubles matches between 1954 and 1972. Paes won his first Davis Cup doubles match in 1990, when he was 16. His partner, Zeeshan Ali, is now India’s Davis Cup coach.
Paes, who will turn 45 on June 17, has won eight men’s doubles and ten mixed doubles titles, completing career grand slams in each. Known mostly as a doubles player, he has also notched 48 victories in Davis Cup singles matches and is the only Indian to win an Olympic medal in tennis, a bronze at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? Please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]
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