Leander Paes (left) and Lukas Dlouhy celebrate their semifinal win over the Bryan brothers in the US Open. (Photo courtesy: www.usopen.org)
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
There is a great romance when the names are mentioned together. And, ironically, there are the elements of a Greek tragedy as well when these two names – seemingly inseparable but huge individuals in their own rights – surface in conversation.
The first is a 36-year-old with nine Grand Slam titles under his belt. The other is 35 and has 11 won Grand Slam titles. My mind goes back a decade when, playing as a unit, they made it to the final of all four Grand Slams and won the French Open and Wimbledon crowns.
Now, as they square up against one another in the final of the US Open men’s doubles final, I wish again they hadn’t broken their doubles partnership. My mind also goes back to their gut-wrenching split a couple of years later and the mess they got themselves to around the 2006 Asian Games, leaving a whole nation clueless about their break up. Read more »
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