The silent one speaks out

In those glory days during his partnership with Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi was known as the silent one. Not much has changed since then. ...

In those glory days during his partnership with Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi was known as the silent one. Not much has changed since then. While Leander is still seen as the torch bearer of Indian tennis, Mahesh remains in the shadow of his former partner. Maybe, it’s time things changed.

If Davis Cup continues to be Leander’s turf, Mahesh has repeatedly proved himself in the real grind of pro tennis. After his 6-4, 6-2 win in the Wimbledon mixed doubles final with Mary Pierce, Mahesh took his Grand Slam title tally to eight. And the fact that often goes unnoticed is: Leander has just four Grand Slam final wins. Things become more clear in this Mahesh vs Leander debate when one checks their career title record. Mahesh with 38 titles as compared to Leander’s 35 once again comes out tops.

Add to this the fact that it was Mahesh — and not Leander — who had become the first Indian ever to win a Grand Slam title. The French Open mixed title with Rika Hiraki in 1997 seems to have faded from the public memory.

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Even after the split with Leander, Bhupathi has been more successful. While Leander still hasn’t won a men’s doubles Grand Slam title, Mahesh won the US Open title in 2002 with Max Mirnyi.

Even the last two years on the tour have been better for Bhupathi. Last season Mahesh won four doubles titles to compared to Paes’ three. So far this year Mahesh has a 21-10 win-loss while it’s 19-8 for Paes.

Despite this record Bhupathi manages to stay away from the limelight seemingly content with going about his business on court.

On Saturday, Venus Williams stepped out of sister Serena’s shadows to claim her rightful place on the world tennis scene. Hopefully, the win on Sunday with Mary Pierce will see Mahesh get similar prominence.

Bhupathi’s Grand haul

• 1997: French Open mixed doubles with Rika Hiraki

• 1999: French Open and Wimbledon doubles with Leander Paes

• 1999: US Open mixed doubles with Ai Sugiyama

• 2001: French Open doubles with Leander Paes

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• 2002: Wimbledon mixed doubles with Elena Likhovtseva, US Open with Max Mirnyi

• 2005: Wimbledon mixed doubles with mary Pierce.

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