London Olympics is barely a few months away and instead of focusing its efforts on trying to win a gold medal, Indian Tennis is embroiled in a new controversy. Leander Paes (39), the most successful Indian tennis player ever and the top ranked doubles player for India wants to partner either Mahesh Bhupathi (38), another legend and power center of tennis in the country or Rohan Bopanna (32). The problem stems from the fact that both Bhupathi and Bopanna want to partner each other and not Paes. Paes does not want to partner younger players like Yuki Bhambri (19) or Vishnu Vardhan (24).
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) is also to blame. It can send two teams to Olympics and that will surely not decrease our chances of getting a medal. But it has ruled out the option and insists on sending one team with Paes as one of the players. Paes has threatened to pull out from Olympics if Bhupathi or Bopanna are not made to partner him.
The two team option would be the best with AITA sending a young player with Paes despite his protests. If that doesn’t work out, Paes should be allowed to pull out and Bhupathi-Bopanna should go in the interest of Indian tennis. But AITA, being the wise sports body it is, is having none of that.
What is even more regrettable is that online forums are filled with user comments siding with either Leander Paes or Mahesh Bhupathi and calling each other names. I believe Leander and Mahesh has done a great service to Indian tennis and nobody who doesn’t know the truth should question the commitment and nationalism of these players and call them selfish. The best we can do is speculate about the motivations and what could have gone wrong and form our own opinions. These opinions may be far from truth until unless the true story comes out.
The first question that then beckons is why nobody wants to partner Leander Paes. These pointers might help a reader form an idea. It, however, needs to be mentioned here that these are mostly rumors and grapevine and what exactly happened may never be fully known.
- Grapevine has it that Paes contrived to keep Bhupathi out of the squad for the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan and succeeded.
- It is rumoured that Paes tried to convince Bopanna to partner him even when he was playing actively with Bhupathi in 2011. Bhupathi has termed it an act of back-stabbing. Paes’ father has said that Leander broke up his partnership with Bhupathi because he wanted a younger player with fresh legs.
- Another rumour is that Paes gave a tongue-lashing to Bopanna after they lost the doubles game in Uzbekistan and this didn’t go down well with Rohan.
- It is alleged that as Davis Cup captain, Leander Paes ruled with an iron fist and AITA gave him a free hand to decide who will play what game. In 2008, four players – Prakash Amritraj, Bopanna, Bhupathi and Karan Rastogi revolted against Paes’ captaincy and wrote to the AITA that they will not play Davis Cup ties if Paes was the captain. Prakash Amritraj had this to say about Leander’s captaincy – “This man has taken the joy away from playing the Davis Cup,”
- Firstpost.com in an article had this to say about Leander – If you speak to officials or former tennis players, they will tell you in no uncertain terms that Leander Paes is selfish. They will tell you that with Paes — the arguments begin with him and end with him; no one else has a chance to participate.
In the last six months and since breaking up with Bhupathi in 2011, Leander has not played with an Indian partner on the tennis circuit. Since the start of 2012, Bhupathi and Bopanna have played together with an eye on the Olympics. Therefore, the second question is why AITA is so adamantly supporting Paes’ demand to be paired up with Bhupathi or Bopanna.
The answer is not clear though there are rumours that AITA doesn’t like Bhupathi much because his company, GloboSports, organized a few ATP and WTA events in India and managed to get players like Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce without AITA playing any significant role in those tournaments.
In light of these rumours, facts and arguments, following questions remain open for Indian tennis fans to ponder over and decide what is it that ails Indian tennis?
- Doubles is all about coordination and camaraderie. Why doesn’t a sports body like AITA get it?
- Bopanna gave up a successful partnership with Pakistani player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi to partner Mahesh and prepare for Olympics. Is AITA justified in trying to thwart his Olympic dreams?
- If India can send two teams based on individual (Paes is ranked 7th individual doubles ranking) and team rankings (Bhupathi-Bopanna are ranked 7th as a team), why is AITA insisting on just one? Wouldn’t the probability of winning a medal increase with more teams representing India?
- If Leander wanted a younger player with fresh legs, what is stopping him to partner Yuki or Vishnu?
- If Leander was so concerned about his chances in Olympics, why is not playing with an Indian player on the ATP circuit?
- Just because he is the highest ranked Indian, does Leander have a right to jeopardize someone else’s dreams by demanding that they break-up with their playing partner? Is he not responsible for striking a partnership himself with players who are willing to play alongside him?
- Are we and the AITA fair in expecting Bhupathi and Bopanna to be available to partner Paes whenever he wants it while Leander is free to dump them when it serves his interest?
- On 7th June 2012, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza won the French Open mixed doubles. But AITA wants Sania to partner Leander at Olympics. Why?
Both Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are legends as far as Indian tennis go. Get angry, ridicule their arguments and form your opinions if you may but don’t get abusive towards the men who have given their lives to the sports. Whatever they do now and in future, they deserve respect for the laurels they have brought to India and Indian tennis in the past.
References:
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_what-makes-leander-paes-such-an-outcast_1703737
http://www.firstpost.com/sports/olympics-2012-why-nobody-wants-to-play-with-leander-paes-345305.html
http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/feb/24davis.htm
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/aita-wants-to-pair-sania-leander-for-olympics/266208-5-22.html
First published on Reader’s Quotient on June 21, 2012
http://readersquotient.com/columns/lee-hesh-controversy-what-ails-indian-tennis
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