Leander Paes has spoken for the first time about the controversy surrounding Indian tennis in the selection for the Olympics saying that he is interested in playing sport and not politics, says a report in ESPN.
Paes was quoted by ESPN saying, “It is the dream of any young Indian kid to play and no-one is going to stop me from that, I have been the only player that qualified directly for the Olympics from India and for me that is a great honour. I have already got an Olympic medal in singles and it is the greatest joy.”
Paes who is a five time Olympian and who is heading for his sixth said, “Every Olympics has some nonsense coming with it. For me I know how much hard work goes into what I do and people chose to respect it and I am very lucky that most of India does. If people chose to disrespect it then that is their choice."
On his doubles partner Vishnu Vardhan, Paes said that is a really good player and he is very happy to play with him whatever the obstacles are. Paes said that as an experienced professional athlete he will try to help him as much as he can because the kid has never played in any Grand Slams.
Meanwhile, Leander Paes and his doubles partner Radek Stepanek has an easy outing in the second round of the ongoing Wimbledon as they registered an easy6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over the Australian combination of Colin Ebelthite and John Peers in just one hour 31 minutes, says a report in The Hindustan Times.
The Indo-Czech pair got their first break in the third game of the first set and won the set easily. In the second set the Australian Pair did have a chance to break their opponent’s serve but failed to convert any of the break point opportunity that they got, reports The Times of India.
