Leander prefers to partner Myneni in Davis Cups in future

Paes-with-Saketh
Leander Paes with Saketh Myneni during the Davis Cup doubles tie against Spain in the capital on Saturday. Image Source: Xtra Time

New Delhi, Debasis Sen: Leander Paes has often been criticized for being outspoken and letting his preferences known to public. The veteran of 18 Grand Slam wins has made it clear that he would like to partner Saketh Myneni in Davis Cups in future. Leander partnering Saketh for the first time gave a good account of themselves in their very first professional match together going down fighting. The Indian pair lost 6-4,6-7,4-6,4-6 to Rio Olympics gold medalists Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez.

“I really enjoyed playing with Saketh today. He is a natural ad court player and we combined really well. Ours is a very natural partnership. He has my back and he knows I have his. The way we played in our very first match against the Olympics gold winners, imagine what we can do if we play few more matches together. Saketh is my 108th partner. I know personalities. We don’t really have to try. We communicate very well. I hope I get my record of most doubles wins in Davis Cup with Saketh,” Paes said in the post match press conference.

It is an open secret that veteran Paes and Rohan Bopanna don’t get along well. The later even did not want to partner Paes at the Rio Olympics and skipped this tie citing an ankle injury. Leander in a way blamed the selection committee for not picking the best team (mixed doubles) for Rio Olympics. According to Paes, “I have a little long sight, sometimes people believe in it and sometimes they don’t. When they haven’t we have seen how we have done. For me if I say something I believe in it. You got an Asian Games coming up in 18 months from now and an Olympics in four years time. Whether I am around or not, you got to nurture talents like Myneni otherwise it’s going to be a tussle as to who is going to the Olympics and come back tali maroying. I can very clearly say that this Olympics and the last one we did not put the best teams forward and I am very clear. This Olympics there was a huge opportunity to win a medal at the mixed doubles. What more can a man do winning four Grand Slams in 14 months? There were no other tournaments around and I could not create any. All I can say it was sad.”

Now at the very first opportunity Leander also openly suggested he would rather partner with Myneni for the upcoming ties. Paes went on record to say that if he and Saketh plays together for the next six months, they can be a strong contender for Asian Games medal which is just 18 months away.

“I have always believed that selection is the selector’s job, but the way we played and interacted with each other is very natural. It will be blind not to see that kind of magic,” Paes added.

Seated next to Leander, Myneni too agreed they had an outstanding match against the Spanish. “We had a blast on the court today. We could not get the win given we played against two legends but in the future as much as we can play together would be great for me,” commented Myneni.

Paes even went on to make an offer to Myneni to play with him on the ATP Tour whenever he feels ready. While Myneni diplomatically said he wants to keep singles as his priority for a few more years, he said it would be an honour for him to play with Paes eventually.

“It’s a blessing for me to get such an offer. I have to get my singles rankings up in order to get into the doubles draw with Leander in big events. So it just goes to show that I have to push myself even more. I have always learnt a lot being with the Davis Cup team with the likes of Leander,” Myneni said.

According to Leander, if Saketh keeps his focus and take care of a few things like training schedule, dieting, lifestyle then he can do well in Grand Slams.