By: Nathan M. Cuny
The defending doubles champion, Mahesh Bhupathi, lost Wednesday, November 9 at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. He and his teammate, Leander Paes, lost 6-3, 1-6, 8-10 to Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas in the tournament’s second round. Considering Paes and Bhupathi won the title back in 1998, losing in Paris is only a minor setback for the team now.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have had a bumpy ride as teammates, but it seems they play best together. Their Wednesday loss compares little to their great accomplishments this season. They slapped their names on two Masters 1000 tournaments this year in Cincinnati and Miami, as well as the 250 tournament in Chennai—all on outdoor hard courts.
Over the last 14 years Bhupathi and Paes teamed up consistently throughout the seasons of 1997 through 2002, and irregularly afterwards. Their best year together was in 1999. That year both of their doubles rankings reached a career high of No.1. They gained No.1 status back in 1999 by winning two grand slams, Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Depending on how they do in the Barclays finals, 1999 may no longer be their best year as teammates.
After 2002 when their teamwork became very sporadic both Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi each reached the ATP World Tour finals without each other several times. This year marks the first time since 2002 when Bhupathi and Paes will play the finals together. In mid October they gained qualification for Barclays, Bhupathi and Paes are currently ranked the No. 4 team
The years when Mahesh Bhupathi didn’t play with Leander Paes he primarily teamed up with Max Mirnyi. The doubles team of Bhupathi and Mirnyi qualified for Barclays in 2003, 2004, and 2010. In 2010 Mahesh Bhupathi was the runner up at Barclays finishing second to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic.
Leander Paes likewise teamed up with other players during his time apart from Bhupathi. In 2005 he qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup Doubles (today’s Barclays equivalent) with Nenad Zimonjic. There, Paes and Zimonjic finished as runners up to Fabrice Santoro and Michael Llodra. From 2006 to 2010 Paes qualified for the tennis finals with several other players but never won the title.
As evidenced over the years Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes haven’t needed each other to be successful players. They reached the height of their careers many years ago together but together or not you gotta give it to the Indian Express team. Both Paes and Bhupathi are nearly 40, they aren’t the oldest of the top 8 doubles players but they aren’t the youngest either. Throughout this season they have competed better than many players in their early 30’s and late 20’s.
You can compare Bhupathi and Paes to a superior bottle of wine, good at first—but better with age. Physically they may not be as strong as the younger players; mentally they are stronger with the wisdom they earned in age. Remembering they’ve won three masters events this season, their defeat in Paris is in no way a prediction for Barclays.
Topics: Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi