Regarded as the most successful player in the history of Davis Cup with 43 doubles wins and India's elite tennis player Leander Paes is the one who propelled the anger of tennis in India. He's 8 career Grand Slams in doubles and ten career Grand Slams in mixed falls beneath his belt. It's said that Paes' sports career was rather evident as his parents have been prominent sportspersons belonging to field hockey and basketball but Paes chose his own way to pursue a career in athletics by choosing tennis, which meant he had to learn the game just like others. However, the support of parents functioned as a catalyst in his performance that directed him scripting history.

Becoming fascinated with tennis Leander started playing with the sport when he was five. He also learned the techniques of this sport in Madras (now Chennai) in the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy under the guidance of Dave O'Meara following getting basic skills in the Dalhousie Institute, Calcutta. He rose to fame after winning the Wimbledon junior title in 1990 at age 17, spotting the first position in the world junior standing and finally got selected in the Indian Davis Cup team. Roku error code 016 His performance earned sincere appreciation from the Authorities who bestowed him with the Arjuna Award. The next yearhe turned professional, which was when he faced a tricky stage of his profession as his first years as a professional weren't so good. In 1992, he teamed up with Ramesh Krishnan and reached the quarter-finals of the men's doubles at the Barcelona Olympics and clinched his first singles title by winning the Guangzhou ATP Challenger event of the same year.

In the Games of 1994, Leander again proved his talent by making a bronze medal in the singles event and then dominating the doubles along with Gaurav Natekar along with the team event too together with Zeeshan Ali, Gaurav Natekar and Asif Ismail. He earned a bronze medal for the nation with her sturdy performance in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, becoming India's first athlete to purse an Olympic medal since 1952.

Read more:

• Karnam Malleswari
• Limba Ram