New Delhi, India tennis legend Leandre Paes On Saturday, Paes reflected on the journey he took from the locker room to Centre Court at Wimbledon. Looking back on his illustrious career, Paes stressed the importance of Wimbledonreceiving his trophies in the Royal Box.
Paes, in an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, highlighted why Wimbledon holds a special place in tennis.
About your association with Wimbledon…
First of all, playing at Wimbledon, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, is a huge honour. As a young boy growing up in India in the 80s, I got to see a lot of Borg, McEnroe, Navratilova and Chris Evert on black and white TV.
Over the years, I was so inspired by these great players that I wanted to write my own story at Wimbledon. And I was fortunate enough to play 38 years of professional career. Over those 38 years, I had 194 doubles partners and 26 mixed doubles partners and playing at the All England Club for three and a half decades was a real blessing. Also, winning the junior singles in 1990 gave me the belief that I could make something of myself in the sport of tennis. So the junior Wimbledon in 1990 was one of my first Wimbledon appearances. From there, I was able to write quite an incredible story by winning the boys’ singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles championships, six times.
What do you think makes Wimbledon so special?
I think it’s the history. Every time I walk from the locker room to Centre Court, or when I’m on the court at Wimbledon, the walls speak of the history that was created there. The pictures of all the great champions of the past like Billie Jean King, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak DjokovicSerena and Venus Williams, and Steffi Graf. In the last few years, on the women’s side, there have been some surprises. When you walk on the lawns at Wimbledon, or when you walk on Centre Court, and you look at the winners’ scroll, just to see the name of India, my name etched on the walls of Wimbledon in history, that’s really an achievement. Now that I’ve retired from tennis, and I go to Wimbledon to see where I watch Djokovic play his matches live, or I can see Alcaraz play, or I can watch some of the big matches like yesterday with Sinner and Medvedev, it’s incredible the global reach of Wimbledon. Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Club is obviously committed to bringing more fans to the Championships.
They are committed to reaching out to their different audiences across the world, especially us in India. This is the first time that the All England Club is offering live commentary in Hindi through Star Sports Network, which allows our Hindi audience to watch the championships live in Hindi. For me, this is a big step forward to reach out to the Hindi speaking audiences across India or around the world. I think it is a great initiative by the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
What do you think about AELTC’s initiative to popularise tennis in India?
I think it’s a fantastic effort on their part. If you just look at one statistic that really stands out to me, it’s a 96% improvement in audience figures in 2023 compared to 2022.
This means that the number of viewers who watched Wimbledon or the All England Championships in a year has increased by 96%. Also, the public vote for Wimbledon from all fans across India has increased by 74% compared to 2022. For me, this is a huge statistical figure.
And the All England Lawn Tennis Club increased its Wimbledon Championship fan base by 74% through public voting and 96% through a year-on-year increase in audience. Phenomenal.
What is your favourite Wimbledon moment?
Of course, receiving my trophies in the Royal Box year after year, decade after decade, has been a very patriotic and inspiring moment for me. You know, growing up in India, playing cricket, playing football, barefoot, and then finally getting to Wimbledon and winning here, that’s what dreams are made of. That being said, if you look at a very interesting statistic, Rod Laver and I are the only two people in tennis history to have won Wimbledon in three different decades. I didn’t know that statistic before. That’s something. To have a career that spans over 38 years, and four decades, that’s something. Excellent.
Paes, in an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, highlighted why Wimbledon holds a special place in tennis.
About your association with Wimbledon…
First of all, playing at Wimbledon, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, is a huge honour. As a young boy growing up in India in the 80s, I got to see a lot of Borg, McEnroe, Navratilova and Chris Evert on black and white TV.
Over the years, I was so inspired by these great players that I wanted to write my own story at Wimbledon. And I was fortunate enough to play 38 years of professional career. Over those 38 years, I had 194 doubles partners and 26 mixed doubles partners and playing at the All England Club for three and a half decades was a real blessing. Also, winning the junior singles in 1990 gave me the belief that I could make something of myself in the sport of tennis. So the junior Wimbledon in 1990 was one of my first Wimbledon appearances. From there, I was able to write quite an incredible story by winning the boys’ singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles championships, six times.
What do you think makes Wimbledon so special?
I think it’s the history. Every time I walk from the locker room to Centre Court, or when I’m on the court at Wimbledon, the walls speak of the history that was created there. The pictures of all the great champions of the past like Billie Jean King, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak DjokovicSerena and Venus Williams, and Steffi Graf. In the last few years, on the women’s side, there have been some surprises. When you walk on the lawns at Wimbledon, or when you walk on Centre Court, and you look at the winners’ scroll, just to see the name of India, my name etched on the walls of Wimbledon in history, that’s really an achievement. Now that I’ve retired from tennis, and I go to Wimbledon to see where I watch Djokovic play his matches live, or I can see Alcaraz play, or I can watch some of the big matches like yesterday with Sinner and Medvedev, it’s incredible the global reach of Wimbledon. Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Club is obviously committed to bringing more fans to the Championships.
They are committed to reaching out to their different audiences across the world, especially us in India. This is the first time that the All England Club is offering live commentary in Hindi through Star Sports Network, which allows our Hindi audience to watch the championships live in Hindi. For me, this is a big step forward to reach out to the Hindi speaking audiences across India or around the world. I think it is a great initiative by the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
What do you think about AELTC’s initiative to popularise tennis in India?
I think it’s a fantastic effort on their part. If you just look at one statistic that really stands out to me, it’s a 96% improvement in audience figures in 2023 compared to 2022.
This means that the number of viewers who watched Wimbledon or the All England Championships in a year has increased by 96%. Also, the public vote for Wimbledon from all fans across India has increased by 74% compared to 2022. For me, this is a huge statistical figure.
And the All England Lawn Tennis Club increased its Wimbledon Championship fan base by 74% through public voting and 96% through a year-on-year increase in audience. Phenomenal.
What is your favourite Wimbledon moment?
Of course, receiving my trophies in the Royal Box year after year, decade after decade, has been a very patriotic and inspiring moment for me. You know, growing up in India, playing cricket, playing football, barefoot, and then finally getting to Wimbledon and winning here, that’s what dreams are made of. That being said, if you look at a very interesting statistic, Rod Laver and I are the only two people in tennis history to have won Wimbledon in three different decades. I didn’t know that statistic before. That’s something. To have a career that spans over 38 years, and four decades, that’s something. Excellent.
