NEW DELHI: India tennis legend Leander Paes on Saturday went down the memory lane and recalled the walk from the locker room to Centre Court at Wimbledon. Reflected on his illustrious career, Paes emphasized the significance of Wimbledon, especially receiving his trophies in the Royal Box.
Paes, in an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, highlighted why Wimbledon has a special place in Tennis.
On your association with Wimbledon…
First of all, playing at the Wimbledon, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club is such a great honour. As a young boy growing up in India back in the 80s, one got to see a lot of Borg, McEnroe, Navratilova, and Chris Evert, on black and white TV.
Over the years got so inspired by these great players that I wanted to carve out my own history at Wimbledon. And I’ve been very blessed to play 38 years of professional career. In those 38 years, one has had 194 doubles partners and 26 mixed doubles partners and getting to play at the All England Club over three and a half decades has been a real blessing. Also, winning the Junior Singles in 1990, gave me a great belief that I could make something of myself in the sport of tennis. So, the Junior Wimbledon in 1990 was one of my first outings at Wimbledon. From there, one’s been able to carve out quite an amazing history of winning the championships in boys’ singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles, six times.
What makes Wimbledon so special according to you?
I think it’s the history. Whenever I walk from the locker room to Centre Court, or when you’re on the grounds of Wimbledon, the walls speak of the history that has been created there. The pictures of all the past great champions like Billie Jean King, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena and Venus Williams, and Steffi Graf. Now you see the last few years on the women’s side, there have been some surprise winners. When one walks on the lawns of Wimbledon, or when one enters Centre Court, and you look at the winner’s scroll, just to get to see India’s name, my name etched into the walls of Wimbledon in history, is a really a special feat. Now that I’ve retired from tennis, and I go to Wimbledon to visit where I watch Djokovic play his matches live, or I get to watch Alcaraz play, or I get to watch some of the big matches like yesterday with Sinner and Medvedev, it’s amazing the global reach that Wimbledon has. Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Club are obviously committed to bringing more fans to the Championships.
They’ve committed by reaching out to their multiple audiences all around the world, especially to us in India. It’s the first time that the All England Club has brought live Hindi commentary through Star Sports Network, which our Hindi audiences can watch the championships broadcast live in Hindi. To me, I think that’s a great move forward to engage with audiences all across India or all across the world who are Hindi-speaking audiences. I think this is a great initiative that the All England Lawn Tennis Club have taken.
What are your thoughts on the AELTC’s initiative to popularize tennis in India?
I think it’s a fantastic effort that they’ve made. If you just look at one stat that really stands out to me, 96% improved viewing figures in 2023 from 2022.
That means that the public viewing Wimbledon or the All England Championships in one year has improved by 96%. Also, the Wimbledon public ballot from all the fans across India rose by 74% compared to 2022. To me, that is a massive statistical figure.
And the All England Lawn Tennis Club rose the fan following for the Wimbledon Championships by 74% with the public ballot and 96% of increased viewing year on year. Phenomenal.
What is your favourite Wimbledon moment.
I mean, obviously, receiving my trophies in the Royal Box year on year, decade on decade has been very patriotic and inspiring for me. You know, growing up in India, playing gully cricket, gully football, barefoot – to eventually coming to the championships at Wimbledon and winning here is what dreams are made of. That being said, if you actually look at one very interesting stat, Rod Laver and myself are the only two individuals in the history of the game of tennis to win Wimbledon in three different decades. I didn’t know that stat before. That’s quite something. To have a career that spans over 38 years, and four decades is quite something. Excellent.
Paes, in an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, highlighted why Wimbledon has a special place in Tennis.
On your association with Wimbledon…
First of all, playing at the Wimbledon, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club is such a great honour. As a young boy growing up in India back in the 80s, one got to see a lot of Borg, McEnroe, Navratilova, and Chris Evert, on black and white TV.
Over the years got so inspired by these great players that I wanted to carve out my own history at Wimbledon. And I’ve been very blessed to play 38 years of professional career. In those 38 years, one has had 194 doubles partners and 26 mixed doubles partners and getting to play at the All England Club over three and a half decades has been a real blessing. Also, winning the Junior Singles in 1990, gave me a great belief that I could make something of myself in the sport of tennis. So, the Junior Wimbledon in 1990 was one of my first outings at Wimbledon. From there, one’s been able to carve out quite an amazing history of winning the championships in boys’ singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles, six times.
What makes Wimbledon so special according to you?
I think it’s the history. Whenever I walk from the locker room to Centre Court, or when you’re on the grounds of Wimbledon, the walls speak of the history that has been created there. The pictures of all the past great champions like Billie Jean King, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena and Venus Williams, and Steffi Graf. Now you see the last few years on the women’s side, there have been some surprise winners. When one walks on the lawns of Wimbledon, or when one enters Centre Court, and you look at the winner’s scroll, just to get to see India’s name, my name etched into the walls of Wimbledon in history, is a really a special feat. Now that I’ve retired from tennis, and I go to Wimbledon to visit where I watch Djokovic play his matches live, or I get to watch Alcaraz play, or I get to watch some of the big matches like yesterday with Sinner and Medvedev, it’s amazing the global reach that Wimbledon has. Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Club are obviously committed to bringing more fans to the Championships.
They’ve committed by reaching out to their multiple audiences all around the world, especially to us in India. It’s the first time that the All England Club has brought live Hindi commentary through Star Sports Network, which our Hindi audiences can watch the championships broadcast live in Hindi. To me, I think that’s a great move forward to engage with audiences all across India or all across the world who are Hindi-speaking audiences. I think this is a great initiative that the All England Lawn Tennis Club have taken.
What are your thoughts on the AELTC’s initiative to popularize tennis in India?
I think it’s a fantastic effort that they’ve made. If you just look at one stat that really stands out to me, 96% improved viewing figures in 2023 from 2022.
That means that the public viewing Wimbledon or the All England Championships in one year has improved by 96%. Also, the Wimbledon public ballot from all the fans across India rose by 74% compared to 2022. To me, that is a massive statistical figure.
And the All England Lawn Tennis Club rose the fan following for the Wimbledon Championships by 74% with the public ballot and 96% of increased viewing year on year. Phenomenal.
What is your favourite Wimbledon moment.
I mean, obviously, receiving my trophies in the Royal Box year on year, decade on decade has been very patriotic and inspiring for me. You know, growing up in India, playing gully cricket, gully football, barefoot – to eventually coming to the championships at Wimbledon and winning here is what dreams are made of. That being said, if you actually look at one very interesting stat, Rod Laver and myself are the only two individuals in the history of the game of tennis to win Wimbledon in three different decades. I didn’t know that stat before. That’s quite something. To have a career that spans over 38 years, and four decades is quite something. Excellent.
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