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Two minds with but a single thought -- the need to win. Two bodies operating like a well-oiled machine, one providing the power, the other the punch; one the speed, the other the sparkle. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had to fight every inch after grassy inch of the way to that moment when they held aloft the two trophies that symbolised their global preeminence in the tennis doubles game. After the Roland Garros success, the Wimbledon win came not just as a recognition of their enormous talent but as a reiteration that here, indeed, are true champions of the Grand Slam circuit. Paes' mixed-doubles win with Lisa Raymond, was only the icing to the cake. Wimbledon has always held pride of place for tennis players everywhere but especially in this part of the world. For years, India has lived off Ramanathan and Ramesh Krishnan's achievements in making it to the semis on these hallowed grounds. Now, after such a long journey, it can finally savour the experience of having its very own Wimbledonchampions.
There are lessons to be imbibed from this victory. For Paes and Bhupathi, it rewarded the tremendous discipline with which they set about achieving their target. This was by no means easy. Tennis is essentially an individual's game. Playing doubles, in contrast, imposes a certain discipline on the player because of the element of give and take it entails. It means that the ego hassles and frictions that can mar any relationship in the field, even one as close as that between Paes and Bhupathi, cannot be allowed to destroy what is a joint project. On Sunday, both the young players gave everything they had to their game, all the while encouraging each other along. Playing at that level requires more than stamina and a felicity in the game. It requires killer instinct. Commentators had always maintained that Indians lacked this quality, that they were regarded great gentlemen on court, but never real winners. Paes and Bhupathi blasted this thesis sky high on Sunday. In the course of the winningmatch, they clawed their way back into the reckoning after losing the opening set 6-7. With well-placed serve and volley, they exploited the weaknesses in their opponents and powered their way through. There is a lesson in this victory for the nation too. Ironically, what seems to have helped the duo a great deal was the absence of hype over tennis championships. Unlike the adulation and wrath that cricketers have to routinely face in this country, Paes and Bhupathi were left alone to play their game as they saw fit, unshackled by the great and unreal expectations of their compatriots.
Every victory of such a significant nature has its own spin-offs and they must be carefully harvested. Certainly this feat of winning two Grand Slam titles in a row will help power tennis back on to the radar screens of an entire generation in this country. And there cannot be a better tribute to the two young bravehearts on centre court than this.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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