Relationship With Leander Paes
From the pinnacle of 1999 to the depths of 2006, the relationship between the two top Indian players, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi has fluctuated, turning from great to bad to worse. The two forged a formidable partnership in the late 90s and steeply climbed the ladder of the doubles rankings. They played so well as a team that it prompted the then top Australian doubles pair of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (known as the Woodies) to predict that Bhupathi and Paes would take their place in tennis doubles after they left the scene. Together with Paes, Bhupathi featured in several memorable Grand Slam matches, Olympic matches, and Davis Cup matches for India. From such a high, the relationship between the pair gradually deteriorated and reached a point of no communication. The exact cause or causes for the rift have never been known so far, though various factors like ego clashes and each player garnering more attention than the other have been rumoured over the years. Just after winning the 2006 Asian games, both players announced that they would never play again together. In spite of the cold relationship between them, they decided to play together in the Beijing 2008 Olympics for a possible medal chance in the doubles event. Bhupathi had initially shot a letter to the AITA stating that he did not want to play with Paes in the Olympic Games, preferring Bopanna instead as his partner.
Bhupathi had said, "Leander and I are best option for India but we need to go with some kind of preparation. We need to build a team. It's not about past performances. Rohan Bopanna and I are better prepared as a team", The AITA responded by saying that it would not change the doubles team pairing and that it was up to Paes and Bhupathi to ensure that the differences between them did not come in the way of national glory. (Reuters) However, Bhupathi and Paes decided to once again form a doubles pair, and entered the 2008 Ordina Open together as second seed. They finished as runners up in their comeback tournament. They partnered in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but lost the quarterfinals to Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who went on to win the gold medal.
Leander and Mahesh decided to team up again at the Australian Open 2011, ending a nine-year separation on the ATP circuit. They reached the finals of the event but lost to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan. Paes stated at the time that the best thing has been to have their friendship back.
The Indian Duo has a 303–103 career record together. They have higher success rate against various top teams. They have a Davis Cup record of longest winning streak in doubles, with 23 straight wins.
Mahesh Bhupathi refused to play with Leander Paes in men's doubles event of the London Olympics, to be held in July–August 2012. On 19 June 2012, All India Tennis association relented to the demands of Bhupathi and Bopanna of not playing along Paes. Two teams were sent for the London Olympics- 2012,with Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna as one team and the other team consisting of Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan. Bhupathi also accused AITA for using Sania Mirza as a bait for Leander's participation in the Olympics. Despite AITA relenting to the demands of Bhupathi and Bopanna and permitting them to play together, they crashed out in the second round to the unseeded French pairing of Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau.
Read more about this topic: Mahesh Bhupathi
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