Ask me one player whom I could bet my life on and my answer would be Leander Paes. He does not give his 100 % percent when playing for the country, rather he gives 300%. What else one could explain the reason behind his phenomenal success in Davis Cups? He plays the game with passion and when plays for the country, this passion manifolds. ATP rankings don't daunt him as he has felled many an aces in his career. The kind of respect he generates in the circuit is awesome, ask Martina Navratilova for the confirmation.
Paes is the sheer reason why I would hope a medal in Tennis and to add to that, we have Bhupathi back. The former world champions, nicknamed the Indian Express, showed they meant business by winning the Toronto Masters title on August 1 in their first tournament appearance together in more than a year. It was a dream comeback for the three Grand Slam winners who split in 1999. These are the good signs for the Athens. Hope their form continues. It would have been much better, had they practiced for some tournaments more.
Between 2002 and Toronto event this month , the duo have played together in 17 matches and won all, including the Asian Games final in Busan and five Davis Cup rubbers.
This is Leander's 4th and probably the last Olympics. Though he has already won a Bronze in Atlanta in 1996, defeating Fernando Meligeni of Brazil, I think he is capable of Gold together with Mahesh. The Olympics are quite literally in Paes' genes. He was conceived during the 1972 Munich Games which his parents attended: father Vece representing India in field hockey and mother Jennifer in basketball.
Destiny's child, both my money and hopes are on him.