Meanwhile, Paes on high after despatching FedEx

Leander Paes8217;s warm-up for Wimbledon has gone even better than he expected. Paes, partnering David Rikl, beat the world8217;s top-ranked player Roger Federer, playing along with Allegro Yves, at the ATP Gerry Webber tournament in Halle, Germany. 8216;8216;It was something special8217;8217;, he told The Indian Express today, 8216;8216;one of the few achievements I would like the Indian tennis fraternity to remember.8217;8217;

Ask him why and Paes, unable to hide the excitement in his voice, says: 8216;8216;Isn8217;t it big? How many of us Indians have got results of a similar sort?8217;8217; Then jokes, 8216;8216;I8217;m on a comeback.8217;8217;

Paes ranks this win on par with the third-round defeat of then world No 1 Pete Sampras at the Pilot Pen International in 1998. His record with Sampras stands at 1/5 W/L. But as Paes explains, 8216;8216;That was singles.8217;8217;

This was a doubles win but it was on grass, which made it so special. 8216;8216;Federer on grass is phenomenal. He serves big and is tough whoever he plays with.8217;8217;

Next stop, Wimbledon? 8212; Micky Aigner