Opinion That’s a Slam dunk

Paes was on a mission at the start of this year to tick a few boxes in doubles — winning the Australian Open first and then the Masters. He picked Radek Stepanek,33,as partner and tutored the former Top 10 singles player to stitch together a clutch of speedy returns that took him to the threshold of the only Grand Slam that had eluded him. The Bryan brothers stood in his way,just like last year and in 2006: the twins themselves were gunning for a record majors titles and unbeaten at Melbourne since 2009. But in Stepanek’s company,Paes,38,had his career Grand Slam set complete. Thrice the French,twice the US Open,once at Wimbledon and now the stubbornness of men’s doubles glory at the Australian relenting. But this again would be another dull way of paraphrasing his longevity.

For over two decades,Paes has done something grander than holding aloft silverware at Slams. Alongside three generations of singles players,from Ramesh Krishnan to Somdev Devvarman,he has managed to keep Indians hooked to top-grade doubles tennis. Paes remains one of the last exponents of doubles skills. For fans who revelled in watching John McEnroe take as much pride in thumping a pair of opponents in the company of Peter Fleming (nine Slams) as when he went about his solo career picking seven majors,Paes is a reassuring presence on the fixtures,even as the doubles discipline is gradually sidelined in tennis’s scheme of things. Having made peace with his modest serve and limited game from the rear court,Paes has gone on to boss the forecourt.

Roy Emerson aced both singles and doubles through the 1960s,and McEnroe took it a notch higher in the 1980s. The swinging Swedes came along,led by the charismatic Stefan Edberg and in the rock-like presence of specialist Anders Jarryd. Yevgeny Kafelnikov did the juggling act with some amount of success. But as singles players vanished from the scene,doubles seemed to become popular with the Australian greats Woodforde and Woodbridge and later the American Bryans. Paes,who won an Olympics bronze in singles at the Atlanta Olympics and then devoted himself to mastering the half-court,has remained its loyal proponent. By winning.

It helps that Paes is obsessive about staying fit. It’s easy to let go of regimented discipline if you think you are sharing responsibility and need to run less. Paes didn’t. It helps that he has great reflexes — across the net,his attitude resembles that of an offensive tackler in football or a keen pugilist. It helps that he has a brilliant pair of hands that produces unbelievable angles and such is his awareness of the doubles court,sometimes you wonder if he’ll still find empty spaces for returns even against a triple-team. The Bryans,with their left-and-right-handed expansive coverage,were split to two ends in the lead-up to a winning volley that Paes piercingly placed bang in the middle of an empty-looking court,a court he himself had helped empty with a previous angular return. On his best days,he can get the World No 1 pair haring about in befuddlement.

The gladiatorial tennis,which panned out between Djokovic and Nadal the day after Paes completed his conquest of the various turfs of Slam geography,is just the sort of baseline power play that has edged out doubles tennis to the periphery. Supremely fit athletes chasing down balls that are hit tantalisingly close to the lines in long,breathless rallies are bound to make doubles look like snappy net exchanges in the affable backyard. Those marathon contests also mean that no singles player has any fuel left in the tank for doubles.

For Paes who’s made doubles-courtcraft and especially his volleying seem like an art,an Olympic medal in doubles — of any hue — will be a certain goal in this crucial year. There’s still time before the July competition on grass. If compatriots Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna could get into the groove and push into the Top 10 to form one pair,there’s the option of Leander Paes combining with Devvarman for two Indian assaults on the medals table.

shivani.naik@expressindia.com