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[caption id="attachment_16447" align="alignnone" width="580"] Leander Adrian Paes has always took a pride in the tri-colour.[/caption] Internet Desk: Leander Adrian Paes celebrated his 43^rd birthday on Friday but watching the Indian tennis ace on court even makes his fans doubt he has been around for so long. Paes, who will be making his seventh appearance at the Olympics in Rio will be eyeing to repeat the feat he achieved in Atlanta in 1996. Paes defeated Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni 3-6,6-2 & 6-4 in the bronze medal play-off  to claim the nation’s only medal in tennis till date. Leander will be partnering Rohan Bopanna in the men’s doubles at Rio Olympics 2016. The sheer fact of playing in the top level tennis for this long is a testimony to the fitness and commitment Leander Paes has put in his game to play tennis at its highest level with 100% dedication from his side. The agility and ability of the 43 year old Paes has seen him win eight doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles in his career so far. The latest being the career Grand Slam in mixed doubles by winning the French Open with Swiss partner Martina Hingis last month. He also won a career Grand Slam in mens doubles in 2012, winning the Australian Open with Czech Radek Stepanek defeating the Bryan brothers. Leander Paes also has to his kitty a Junior US Open and Wimbledon title apart from being ranked No1 during that time. He turned professional in 1991 and since then the records have kept tumbling though he was not able to make it big in the singles game. Leander’s biggest glory though came during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when he shocked the tennis world by winning a bronze medal for India. Regarded as an underdog, Paes won his first three matches with ease by defeating Richey Reneberg (US), Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela) and Thomas Enqvist (Sweden). In the quarterfinals, he defeated 14th seed Italian Renzo Furlan in straight sets 6-1, 7-5 to cruise through to the semi-finals. [caption id="attachment_16448" align="alignnone" width="580"] Leander Paes flanked by Atlanta Olympics mens tennis gold medalist Andre Agassi and silver medalist Sergi Bruguerra.[/caption] But he failed to get past Andre Agassi in the semis. Playing the world’s top player in front of a partisan crowd wasn’t easy. But Paes stretched the American to the limit, taking the first set to the tie-breaker. A missed volley at a crucial stage gave Agassi the advantage. Paes ran out of steam in the second, and eventually lost 6-7 3-6. “He hit like maybe 25 drop shots. That’s strange. But just because he plays strange doesn’t mean it’s not good. It’s just strange.” Agassi commented after the semi final win against Paes. Agassi further commented, "He’s a flying jumping bean, a bundle of hyperkinetic energy, with the tour’s quickest hands. Still, he’s never learned to hit a tennis ball. He hits off-speed, hacks,chips, lobs — he’s the Brad of Bombay. Then, behind all his junk, he flies to the net, covers so well that it seems to work. After an hour, you feel as if he hasn’t hit one ball cleanly — and yet he’s beating you soundly. Because I’m prepared, I stay patient, stay calm, and beat Paes 7-6 6-3.” In the bronze medal play-off match he was pitted against Fernando Meligeni of Brazil. After losing the first set 3-6, a resurgent Paes surprised Meligeni by playing aggressively and won the next two sets 6-2 6-4 to claim the bronze medal. It also ended India’s wait for 44 years to win its first individual medal in the Olympics. Paes, whose eyes light up even today on being reminded of the glory in Atlanta would look to give his last big effort to cling on to the glory at Rio.       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrsNwTBQyCY