Leander looks ahead with cheer

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI, NOV. 10. When you have sports as a profession, your business is as good as recreation. Where sports ends, business takes over. It calls for some mastery to juggle things, especially after you have juggled with singles and doubles through a hectic season.

Though he has allowed himself a well-earned break at the end of a satisfying professional circuit, tennis star Leander Paes has been busy with other commitments, and was on a business stopover in the Capital, as he visited the Adidas shop at the Ansal Plaza on Saturday.

Compared to the exacting demands of the Tour, with the Davis Cup ties taking a heavy toll of his energy reserves, it was child's play for the seasoned entertainer, as he mixed with the kids and fans, signing autographs and posing for photographs.

Getting used to the hardness of a cricket ball, before a league match at the TERI Oval in the afternoon, Leander kept twirling the red cherry, and even had the luxury of a bit of a bowl, from a handshaking distance from the bat, to his fans at the shop, who were quite thoughtful in playing the forward defence.

Leander played with a straight bat, as he answered a volley of questions, stressing that he was very pleased to find Mahesh Bhupathi reaching the third round of singles in the Futures in Pattaya.

``Mahesh has a lot of talent for singles. I am very happy that he is pursuing singles. If he gets back his touch, it will take a lot of pressure off me in the Davis Cup matches, with the next tie scheduled for February'', said Leander.

Taking a quick run through the season, the 28-year-old Leander observed that the French Open was obviously the pinnacle for the year, and it was overall quite satisfied to be in good form, winning four titles, and winding up the season with two finals.

Leander said that the match with Andy Roddick in the Davis Cup tie against the US, convinced him that he still could play at the top level, if he focussed some attention on his singles.

``I am playing doubles at the top, and have come to the Futures and Challenger level to play the singles. It is difficult to balance the two, but my hunger for singles is still there and I will try to devote as much time as possible. Of course, with the new ranking system, I need to ensure that I stay healthy, as missing the big tournaments will hurt, as they look at the individual doubles ranking for entry'', Leander said.

Qualifying for Wimbledon, and winning a round at the Mecca of tennis, ``took the ghost off my back'', Leander said, especially after he had crowned himself as the junior champion there, as far back as in 1990.

``I had won everything that a man could in Wimbledon, like the doubles, mixed doubles and the junior event. It was important to win a round, after I had made it to the tournament on merit many times'', observed Leander.

Like Mahesh, Leander will also be playing a few singles events before the year runs out and the next season starts with the Tata Open in Chennai.

Leander will play a Futures in Philippines by the end of the month, followed by a Challenger in Bangkok.

Talking about the World Doubles Championship, Leander said that he was quite hopeful of the ATP being convinced in holding the event in the last week of January, in the gap between the Australian Open and the Davis Cup week.

``It will be good for doubles to have the event, and good for us, as we are trying to win the title after making three finals. Most of the players do want the event, and the organisers are willing to host it'', said Leander, quite hopeful that the unprecedented would happen, as the year-end event has never before been held at the beginning of the next season.

Of course, for professionals like him, who have so many things to handle, apart from playing singles and doubles, there is no difference between the end of a season, or the beginning of one.

With Leander Paes, it is a continuous cycle. His fans know it, and they capitalised on his presence in the city, with an enthusiastic lad taking the cake, as he took half a dozen autographs in his school notebook, perhaps for the benefit of his friends who missed meeting their star, `who looks so different on TV'.

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