Ranking Paes, Bhupathi and Bopana

[atatu]

Was just thinking about this, pretty amazing that all three of these guys won doubles grand slams, were ranked #1 and had long careers.

Leander Paes: 8 men's grand slam titles, 10 mixed grand slams titles, one Olympic medal, 55 men's titles, career high ranking of #1 and 770 mens doubles wins. 93 Davis Cup wins in both singles and doubles, served as Davis Cup captain for India. Won several World Team Tennis titles and was the league MVP in 2009 and 2011. He retired in 2020 at age 46.

Mahesh Bhupathi: 4 men's grand slam titles, 8 mixed doubles grand slams, 52 mens titles, career high ranking of #1, 687 mens doubles wins. 35 Davis Cup wins in singles and doubles. Played college tennis for Ole Miss and led them to the NCAA finals in 1995, also won the NCAA Doubles title in 1995. All American, SEC singles champion and SEC player of the year. Retired at the age of 39 I think.

Rohan Bopanna: 1 men's grand slam title and 1 mixed doubles title, career high ranking of #1. 26 men's doubles titles and 525 men's doubles wins (still active). He just broke Nestor's record as the oldest man to win a match at a Masters at age 45. Oldest man to win a Masters title and oldest man to win a maiden grand slam title. 23 Davis Cup wins in singles and doubles. Still playing at age 45.

It's really kind of amazing how good Paes was. I kind of always thought of these guys as being comparable, but clearly Paes was by far the best. Bhupathi had the advantage of playing with Paes for a long time of course and did not have the longevity of the other two, but hey, he married a Miss Universe.

 

[gamelovergold]

Paes only won bronze medal. Kindly correct it..Paes and bhupati were good double team and won some tournaments .
But alarmingly Indian tennis has not given a single player who shown brightly on world stage.
Bopanna is no way better than bhupati or paes but lets congratulate him for what he has acheived

 

[atatu]

Paes only won bronze medal. Kindly correct it..Paes and bhupati were good double team and won some tournaments .
But alarmingly Indian tennis has not given a single player who shown brightly on world stage.
Bopanna is no way better than bhupati or paes but lets congratulate him for what he has acheived

Well maybe there's hope, I see that there's a 17 year old named Manas Dhamme who trains at the Piatti tennis center ranked in the top 800. Also Aryan Shah is only 19 and is top 500.

 

[LuckyR]

First time I ever attended Indian Wells was a first round doubles match on Stadium court between Rafa and Leander in 2010. Rafa and Marc were wildcards, beat Paes (seeded 3rd), then went on to win the tournament.

To be honest it was a battle between Marc Lopez and Leander Paes. Two great touch players dueling it out.

 

[roysid]

Paes is the most skilled. In singles also he was ok. Won jr wimby and olymp medal.

Btw they had lots of fights among them too. Ego clash, politics, ******** what not

 

[Moose Malloy]

what's the story behind Bopanna playing dubs with Shelton? 2 straight events - Monte Carlo and Munich. Are they planning on playing together at RG?

 

[Shaj]

Yes, Paes was somewhat most skilled out of them and had some singles spirit. But all of them were mediocre at best. Now i dont know if it was due to lack of money or what. I keep listening to the Indian Tennis ecosystem, they keep on harping about lack of money and on and on, must be some truth in that. Yeah i know he defeated Sampras once. But Paes was really good in Davis Cup. i can give him that. Cant even talk about Bopanna and Bhupathis singles career.

 

[ibbi]

Not sure I could tell the latter two apart, but Paes for a few years there made doubles some pretty must see stuff. Maybe the other two were the same, I couldn't tell, but when Leander paired with the two Martina's, they brought the box-office appeal, and he brought the tennis that you just had to see. Those were two epic partnerships. He was a joy to watch.

 

[boredone3456]

Tennis wise Paes has to be tops, at least in my opinion. Incredible doubles player

However I think the other 2 are far nicer overall people, I've heard several players consider Paes to be an entitled Jerk. His own countrymen don't really like him. During the 2012 Olympics both Bopanna and Bhupathi refused to play doubles with him. Paes proceeded to throw a hissy fit about it and demanded he be given Sania Mirza as a mixed doubles partner (she had been planning to play with Bhupathi). She was forced to play with Paes over her own objections, in her own words, "to keep him happy".

 

[Shaj]

Tennis wise Paes has to be tops, at least in my opinion. Incredible doubles player

However I think the other 2 are far nicer overall people, I've heard several players consider Paes to be an entitled Jerk. His own countrymen don't really like him. During the 2012 Olympics both Bopanna and Bhupathi refused to play doubles with him. Paes proceeded to throw a hissy fit about it and demanded he be given Sania Mirza as a mixed doubles partner (she had been planning to play with Bhupathi). She was forced to play with Paes over her own objections, in her own words, "to keep him happy".

Give me a Jerk anytime, if he brings a grand Slam or a Olympics Medal. Anytime.

Also, Paes was very well known and very well adored. You are wrong about that.

 

[boredone3456]

Give me a Jerk anytime, if he brings a grand Slam or a Olympics Medal. Anytime.

Also, Paes was very well known and very well adored. You are wrong about that.

Well what happened before the 2012 olympics is very well documented, so no...I'm not. Paes didn't want to play with a lower ranked Mens doubles player and demanded he be given Mirza as a partner or else he wouldn't play the Olympics. Considering several players refused to play with him, doesn't sound like everyone adored him to me.

 

[atatu]

what's the story behind Bopanna playing dubs with Shelton? 2 straight events - Monte Carlo and Munich. Are they planning on playing together at RG?

Yeah I like the way he plays with some of the younger guys, didn't he also play with Shapovolov a couple of years ago.

 

[ey039524]

Yeah I like the way he plays with some of the younger guys, didn't he also play with Shapovolov a couple of years ago.

Yeah, and he was also acting as a partner/coach for Shapo.

 

[Shaj]

Well what happened before the 2012 olympics is very well documented, so no...I'm not. Paes didn't want to play with a lower ranked Mens doubles player and demanded he be given Mirza as a partner or else he wouldn't play the Olympics. Considering several players refused to play with him, doesn't sound like everyone adored him to me.

I am not taking about who he wanted to play with and who he did not. I am talking about he was very popular in India during 90s and 2000s . Easily Top 5 recognizable sportsperson in India.