Still standing tall

His latest success came on the red clay of Roland Garros,a third Slam in Paris giving him his fifth men’s doubles title at a major. It was also the first with new partner Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic,who had joined Paes at the French Open one year ago,at a time when the Indian couldn’t possibly have foreseen another Slam in his future.

Paes’s partnership with Paul Hanley had endured a string of early defeats in the first half of 2008. He played off and on with a few other players,even singles specialists in a desperate attempt to find a winning combination,and when Hanley was faced with charges of date rape back in Australia,the union came to an abrupt but predictable end.

Enter Lukas Dlouhy,a player who had attracted attention of followers of tennis couture for a ridiculously high ponytail at the St Petersburg Open in 2007,but was having a relatively quiet time on the professional tour. The 26-year-old’s singles career had never really gotten off to a start — highest ranking of 73,in and around the top 100 for a couple of years — but his solidity in doubles was starting to make some heads turn,at least within the circuit.

Playing with countryman Pavel Vizner,he had won three titles on clay,and reached the final,quarter-finals,and final respectively at Roland Garros,Wimbledon and the US Open in 2007. Hungry to take the next step,Dlouhy was making a few stop-gap arrangements,eager to find a partner who could complement his solid play from the back of the court.

When they came together last May,Paes was worried if they would qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai because their chances had been dealt a significant blow by unsteady performances with different partners through the first few months of the year. The best 14 results of the season are taken into account for a berth in the Masters Cup,and since nothing much of note had come until then,the race was only starting now — five months later than anyone else — for Paes and Dlouhy.

But,notching up one good result after another almost immediately,they made it,after all. And it seemed the groundwork for future success had been done.

MARTINA INSPIRATION

The art of survival on the professional tennis tour has a lot to do with fitness,and the standards players set themselves these days are far higher than those in the past. Even so,Paes ranks among the best in business,and the ATP features a series of videos on their official website that show his training sessions. There’s one of Paes practising with an elastic band around his hand,moving it back and forth at great speed,demonstrating what goes into making each of his razor-sharp volleys.

In the background stands an intently observant Dlouhy,watching as his partner demonstrates his skill. The Czech,nine years younger,has said he’s learning a great deal from his experienced partner,and both his first Slam and his highest doubles ranking are testimony to that.

In their team,Dlouhy handles matters from the baseline while Paes does his stuff at the net. That plan went horribly wrong to start with last Saturday as Dlouhy,unused to frequent Grand Slam finals,tried to overcome the butterflies in his stomach. It was Paes who calmed his partner’s nerves,using his been-there-done-that experience to put things right,emulating in his own small way a legend in the stands who paid no heed to her age as she went about collecting trophies for almost three decades — Martina Navratilova.

She was watching as her former mixed-doubles partner Paes and Dlouhy wrapped up their first major title together. Later,Paes mentioned in his speech how much her presence had helped him,and went into the stands to give her a thank-you hug.

Navratilova is a source of inspiration for Paes. She refused to put away the racquet even as the sport was getting younger by the day,as fitness requirements were going through the roof,to garner a whopping 59 Grand Slams titles in all. Paes had observed Martina from close quarters when they won the 2003 Australian Open and Wimbledon mixed doubles titles,and he says some of her grit rubbed off on him.

MORE TO COME

Even in the Davis Cup,Paes is as keen to throw himself in the fray when it comes down to the wire as he was years ago. Though there are two schools of thought when it comes to the idea of Paes playing singles — one scathingly critical,the other marvelling as the ageless legs carry on running — but the point is that when India’s winningest player in the competition steps on the court,things usually work in his favour.

Paes had last won a men’s doubles Grand Slam title nearly three years ago with another Czech,Martin Damm. The French Open triumph now puts him one ahead of former partner Mahesh Bhupathi in the men’s doubles Grand Slam count,with five,though Bhupathi edges him in total Slams — he has seven mixed doubles Slams as compared to Paes’s four.

“Paes and Dlouhy seem to gel well,and what they have achieved is very creditable. I hope they do well at Wimbledon,too,” said Ramesh Krishnan,who partnered Paes in his early Davis Cup years but played most of his tennis at a time when the rigours were kinder on the body. His father Ramanathan,perhaps India’s greatest tennis player of all time,feels there’s more to come from Paes. “If he continues to look after his fitness the way he’s doing now,he’ll continue for another few years. He’s a big fighter,a lover of tennis,and if you noticed in the French Open final,he was the one who won all the big points,” says Ramanathan.

Taking over a stage is something Paes does particularly well,on court with his racquet,and off court with his words. Soon after Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka had him and Bhupathi out of medal contention at the Beijing Olympics,Paes had declared that he’d set his sights on London 2012. It sounded like a long shot — he’ll be nearing 40 when the next Olympics come along — but if anybody can defy the age barrier,it is him.

INSTANT HIT

Consider these early Paes-Dlouhy facts

• In their first six tournaments,they only failed to reach the quarter-finals once.

• They lost to the eventual champions in each of their first three events — Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna in the third round of the 2008 French Open,Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev in the Halle final,and Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

• They reached the semi-finals at Masters Series Canada and the quarter-finals at Masters Series Cincinnati,falling to Nestor and Zimonjic on both occasions.

• At the US Open,they made it all the way to the final,ultimately finishing runners up to Bob and Mike Bryan.

• Their first title came in Bangkok in September,when they beat Scott Lipsky and David Martin,and they reached the final again the following week in Tokyo.

• “It’s a remarkable achievement for Leander,to be still winning Slams at this age. He has been through a lot this last year,and when he and Dlouhy started playing together,they showed results incredibly quickly,” says former Davis Cup captain Jaidip Mukherjea,who watched Paes carry his partner against Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman last Sunday.

• Dlouhy betrayed a few nerves in the opening set,sending his serve flying all over the place,and swatting a few forehands into the net,but Paes kept them in the match with his athletic,inch-perfect volleys. “It’s a young partnership,let’s see how far it goes. But they complement each other so well,it’s a combination that works. Dlouhy can hit winners from the back of the court,while Leander’s reflexes at the net are still so strong. He has the will to win — that is why being a set down in a Grand Slam final is something he believes he can fix,” Mukherjea added.

• The 35-year-old Paes’s fitness is something the young tennis players in the country should take lessons from,said former Davis Cupper Akhtar Ali. “His reflexes are still so sharp. I think he’ll continue playing for a few more years. The longevity of a player is much more on the doubles circuit,and if anyone can keep up,it’s Leander,” said Ali,who had incidentally given a few coaching lessons to Belgian Dick Norman,one of Paes’s opponents in the French Open final and at 38,the oldest man to be part of a Grand Slam title clash.