Getting into Leander Paes’s Mumbai dwelling feels much less like getting into a celeb residence and extra like strolling right into a residing museum of Indian sporting historical past. In an interview and home tour with Brut India, the legendary tennis participant opened his doorways and coronary heart to disclose not simply the trophies and accolades however the struggles, philosophy, and reminiscences behind every nook of his dwelling.The tour begins the place you least anticipate: with flowers. Paes gestures proudly to his expansive terrace backyard, the place 176 vibrant bougainvillaea vegetation bloom across the edges.
“On the periphery of the entire terrace, I’ve received 176 bougainvillaeas,” he says with a smile. “Why 176? As a result of my birthday is the seventeenth of June.”
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The greenery, he jokes, comes from his Bengali and Portuguese genes, which gasoline his love for vegetation and pure aesthetics. The peaceable, sunlit terrace affords a stark distinction to the fierce competitor the world as soon as noticed on centre courts.
Because the digital camera pans throughout his residing area, mounted on the partitions are chronological images, grand slam memorabilia, and signed mementoes from a few of the best names in sport.
One standout second: he holds up a shirt signed by none aside from Pelé, gifted personally to him.
After which, with a cheeky grin, Paes factors to a Wimbledon towel, revealing that it as soon as belonged to his doubles associate Martina Hingis. “She stole mine, so I took hers,” he joked.
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From his Arjuna Award (1990) to the Junior Wimbledon trophy he gained that very same yr, Paes rigorously walks the interviewer by the evolution of his profession. The dialog shortly deepens as he displays on a few of his hardest and most defining moments, significantly on the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the place he earned a bronze medal for India.
“Andre Agassi beat me that day,” Paes remembers, “however I had two set factors. India had two set factors within the first set. He was simply sensible… his psychological sport, his means to seek out methods.”
Paes additionally displays on how he by no means meant to pursue tennis. His old flame was soccer, adopted by a string of sports activities through which he excelled: cricket, swimming, boxing, observe, and hockey.
“Tennis was not even my fifth alternative,” he laughs. “For a tennis participant, I’m quick. The common peak within the ’80s was 6’1”; I’m 5’10” on day.”Story continues under this advert
The struggles behind the shine
Regardless of his polished trophies and glamourous accolades, Paes is candid concerning the tough early days of his profession, residing out of locker rooms, travelling with simply $250 in traveller’s cheques for months on finish, and continually hustling between ITF tournaments throughout continents.
“You’d fly all the way in which to Costa Rica, lose within the first spherical, and that’s it. No cash. Nothing. You simply go dwelling,” Paes shared.
However what stored him going? A private connection to legacy and function. Each Sunday after church, as a baby, he would polish his father’s Olympic medal and ask him questions concerning the 5 rings and the goddess of Athena. The objective, even then, was clear: “I all the time needed to show that we Indians may be world-beaters. That we may be one of the best in our discipline globally.”
Maybe essentially the most astonishing a part of the interview is when Paes particulars the intense dedication he poured into the game: “I awoke at midnight each single evening. Did 10,000 skips. 2,500 abs. Shadow observe in entrance of a mirror surrounded by candles so the warden wouldn’t catch me.”Story continues under this advert
“It’s not luck. It’s 10,000 hours. Three million repetitions in 10 years. That’s the way you grasp something,” the participant shared.
Leander’s story doesn’t finish with him. His daughter, Aiyana, is at the moment coaching in Barcelona to develop into a third-generation Olympian—following within the footsteps of her grandfather (hockey) and father (tennis). There’s pleasure in his voice when he speaks of her, tempered with the knowledge of somebody who is aware of simply how arduous the street forward will likely be.
“You’ve received to be just a little pagol [mad] to do that. It’s not for the faint-hearted,” Paes admitted.
