Best doubles partners of Leander Paes

Indian ace Leander Paes made headlines recently as he clinched his 15th Grand Slam title by winning the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open. He partnered former World No. 1 Martina Hingis in the tournament. The win was special as the duo did not drop a set during the course of the tournament. Paes is one of India’s greatest sportspersons and prefers playing for the flag rather than lucrative ATP tournaments. He is a staunch patriot and his achievements have definitely proven that. Winning multiple medals and titles for India so far, we look at his best partnerships in doubles over the years :

#1 Mahesh Bhupathi

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi pose with the 1999 Wimbledon championships

Paes won the 1999 French Open and Wimbledon Championships pairing with Mahesh Bhuapthi. This was the first time that India was making it big on the tennis Grand Slam circuit and this Indian duo is given all the credit for it. The Indian express also won the 2001 French Open when the beat the Czech team of Petr Pála and Pavel Vízner in the finals 7–6, 6–3.

#2 Lisa Raymond

Leander Paes and Lisa Raymond with the runners-up trophy at the 2001 US Open

Paes won the mixed doubles title at the Wimbledon Championships in 1999 with Lisa Raymond of America. They beat Anna Kournikova and Jonas Björkman 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 in the final. The pair tried to repeat the achievement in the final of the 2001 US Open, but fell short against the Australian pair of Rennae Stubbs and Todd Woodbridge.

#3 Martin Damm

Leander Paes and Martin Damm with the 2006 US Open title

Paes paired with the Czech Martin Damm in 2006 and they lost the Australian Open Mens Doubles final against the Bryan brothers 6–4, 3–6, 4–6. But by the time they had reached the final Grand Slam of the year, they decided they won’t commit the same errors again which helped them clinch the 2006 US Open against Jonas Björkman and Max Mirnyi 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–3.

#4 Luk Dlouh

Leander Paes and Lucas Dlouhy with the 2009 French Open title

Paes has always had a great history with Czech players in the past and Lukas was no exception. This duo reached the final in the 2008 US Open and clinched the French Open title in 2009 by beating Wesley Moodie and Belgium Dick Norman 3–6, 6–3, 6–2.

This pair also went on to stun everyone and clinched the US Open trophy that same year.

#5 Radek tpnek

Radek Stepanek and Leander Paes with the 2012 Australian Open title

Talk about Paes' love for the Czech players, and this was again no exception. Paes and Radek Stepanek won the 2012 Australian Open final against Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 7–6(7–1), 6–2. That same year, they lost the US Open final against the Bryan brothers. They also won the 2013 US Open title by beating Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in the final.

#6 Martina Navratilova

Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova with the 2003 Wimbledon Championships

The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion has been a great partner to Paes over the years. They won both the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championships in 2003. In 2005, they also made it to the finals of the French Open.

#7 Cara Black

Leander Paes and Cara Black with the 2008 US Open title

Zimbabwean star player Cara Black won three Grand Slam titles with Paes and also made it to the final of two other Grand Slams. In 2008, they won the US Open together, and were runners-up in the 2009 Wimbledon and US Open Championships.

In 2010, they came back and acheived the same feat by clinching the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles.

#8 Nenad Zimonjic

Nenad Zimonjic

Paes shared a great chemistry with Nenad Zimonjic who was ranked World No. 1 in doubles in 2008. Together, they made it to six ATP Finals, and won three of them. In fact, in 2005, they defeated the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Rafael Nadal in Barcelona 6-3, 6-3.

#9 Martina Hingis

Leander Paes and Martina Hingis with the 2015 Australian Open title

Paes' partnership with this 5-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Hingis has been talked about most recently. They displayed some stunning doubles moves in the recently concluded Australian Open where they won the final against Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor 6–4, 6–3.