The Open Era
India · born Calcutta, 1973 · five times Wimbledon champion in doubles and mixed
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5
Wimbledon titles, 1999 to 2015
4
Wimbledon mixed titles, each with a different partner
18
Major titles in doubles and mixed
24
Davis Cup doubles wins in a row with Bhupathi
45
Davis Cup doubles wins, a record
Born in Calcutta in 1973 to two Olympians, Paes trained at the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy in Madras from 1985, won the Wimbledon boys' singles in 1990 and became junior world No. 1 at 17. He made his Davis Cup debut at 16 the same year. In 1996 he won the Olympic singles bronze in Atlanta, India's first individual Olympic medal since 1952, and two years later took his only ATP singles title, on grass at Newport. In doubles he won 18 major titles, eight in men's doubles and ten in mixed, with a career Grand Slam in both, and spent 37 weeks at No. 1. He played at seven Olympic Games, set the Davis Cup record of 45 doubles wins, and was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024.
| Wimbledon doubles | 1999 with Mahesh Bhupathi, beating Paul Haarhuis and Jared Palmer 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon mixed | 1999 with Lisa Raymond, 2003 with Martina Navratilova, 2010 with Cara Black, 2015 with Martina Hingis. Finals lost 2009 with Black, 2012 with Elena Vesnina |
| Wimbledon juniors | Boys' singles champion, 1990 |
| Other grass titles | Newport singles 1998, unseeded and ranked 120th: beat Neville Godwin 6-3, 6-2 in the final |
| Davis Cup on grass | Chandigarh 1990: won his debut doubles with Zeeshan Ali 18-16 in the fifth set against Japan. Jaipur 1994: beat Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. New Delhi 1995: beat Goran Ivanišević 6-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 |
| Finals to remember | Wimbledon mixed 2015 with Hingis: beat TÃmea Babos and Alexander Peya 6-1, 6-1 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Men's doubles | with Mahesh Bhupathi |
| 1999 | Mixed doubles | with Lisa Raymond |
| 2003 | Mixed doubles | with Martina Navratilova |
| 2010 | Mixed doubles | with Cara Black |
| 2015 | Mixed doubles | with Martina Hingis |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 1998 | Men's singles Hall of Fame Open | |
| 1999 | Men's doubles Hall of Fame Open | with Wayne Arthurs |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
| 1999 | Men's doubles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | with Jan Siemerink |
| 2006 | Men's doubles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | with Martin Damm |
| Halle | ||
| 2004 | Men's doubles | with David Rikl |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"It's just the magic of being able to make that tennis ball dance to your rhythm."
The person behind the player.
Munich 1972
His parents met at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, where his mother, Jennifer, captained India's women's basketball team and his father, Vece, was in the hockey squad. Their son went on to play at seven Olympic Games, and his singles bronze in Atlanta in 1996 is still India's only Olympic tennis medal.
Source: Tennis.comChandigarh 1990 · Davis Cup
At 16 he was picked as India's fourth player for the tie against Japan on grass in Chandigarh. With Zeeshan Ali he won the doubles 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 18-16, a fifth set of 34 games and a match of five hours. "It was a big thing for us, a big moment for Leander," Ali recalled.
Source: ESPNNew Delhi 1995 · Davis Cup
Ranked 123rd, he faced Goran Ivanišević, the world No. 7 and twice a Wimbledon finalist, on the grass of New Delhi. He lost the first two sets, took the third on a tiebreak and won the last two 6-4, 6-1. He later counted "beating Goran Ivanisevic in Delhi after he had done really well in Wimbledon" among his favourite memories.
Source: ESPNNewport 1998
He arrived at the Hall of Fame Championships unseeded and ranked 120th, and left with the title after beating Neville Godwin 6-3, 6-2 in the final on grass. It was his only ATP singles title. When he returned to Newport for his induction in 2024, he was still the last Indian man to win one.
Source: Indian Tennis DailyWimbledon 2003
As a boy he had looked up to Martina Navratilova as a model of how to play. In 2003 they won the Wimbledon mixed together, beating Anastassia Rodionova and Andy Ram 6-3, 6-3, after taking the Australian title the same year. "Martina Navratilova is the greatest inspiration any human being can have," he said.
Source: Tennis.comNewport 2024
Twenty-six years after his singles title on the Newport grass, he returned there to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, having also won the public Fan Vote. "Induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame belongs not just to me, but to our billion-plus Indians," he said.
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