Tennis Update: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi announce first stop in 2011
A doubles dream team that split almost a decade ago over a public feuding episode, are now set to return in the 2011 season. The Indian Express, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, announced last month that they would be reuniting
for the first Grand Slam of 2011. However, their plans for the events before the slam were not confirmed, until today.
If Bhupathi’s Tweet is anything to go by, the Indian Express is all set to roll in the Chennai Open in January. He tweeted today, “Indian Express confirms first stop of 2011 will be the Aircell Chennai Open. That's where it
all began in 97 :)."
After their split up, both Paes and Bhupathi went through different partners, not exactly sticking to one for a long time. Paes has been teamed up with Lukas Dlouhy from the Czech Republic for the past three years while Bhupathi
has moved between Mark Knowles and Max Mirnyi.
With their respective partners, the two Indians managed to secure positions for themselves in the eight-team field at the season finale event in London.
Partnered with Mirnyi in the 2010 season, Bhupathi won only one doubles crown at the Paris Masters. However, the two did make final appearances at four Masters events and one ATP 500 event at Valencia. They also made it all the
way to the finals at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals before losing to champions Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor. Ranked sixth in the doubles ranking, Bhupathi finished off the season with a 34-21 win-loss mark. Their final at London was the last of Bhupathi-Mirnyi
partnership and the Indian was ready to take on a new partner.
Paes also made his way into the World Tour Finals along with partner Dlouhy, though they exited the event with a 0-3 mark. Paes won two doubles titles this year. Partnered with Jurgen Melzer, he won at the Shanghai Masters whereas
along with Dlouhy, he won the Miami Masters. The Czech-Indian duo made their final appearance at the prestigious Roland Garros along with three other events during the season.
At the end of the season finale, both Indians decided it was time to reunite choosing the Australian Open as their first Grand Slam appearance. Australian Open was the only Grand Slam that they had never won and coincidentally
it was the last Grand Slam they had played in 2002.
Talking to an Indian Newspaper, Bhupathi said, "It is the only Grand Slam title (Australian Open men's doubles) neither of us have won. Incidentally, the Australian Open was the last Grand Slam we played together
(in 2002). We have come close to winning it in the past, but haven't done it. Since we are ranked highly individually (fifth and sixth), we will be seeded highly too and hopefully we can make it count,"
Although the two have decided to appear at the Grand Slam together in 2011, they have not made any post Australian Open plans. In the words of Bhupathi,
“we will see how it goes first.” Given their recent doubles performance, the Indian Express reuniting may pose a threat for the doubles in the 2011 season.
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