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Leander Adrian Paes (born June 17, 1973) is
currently one of the most successful players of
the tennis Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles
circuits.

Leander Paes was born in Goa (state)|Goa and
brought up in Kolkata (then Calcutta). His mother,
Jennifer Paes was a renowned basketball player and
captain of the Indian team in the 1980 Asian
Basketball Championships. His father, Vece Paes,
was a Field hockey|hockey midfielder, representing
the Indian team in the 1972_Summer_Olympics|1972
Munich Olympics, that won the bronze medal. 

He joined the Britannia Tennis Academy in Madras
(now known as Chennai) in 1985 where he was
coached by Dave O'Meara. Leander shot into
international fame when he won the 1990
Wimbledon_championships|Wimbledon Junior title and
rose to No.1 in the junior world-rankings.

He turned professional in 1991 and in 1996 won a
bronze medal at the 1996_Summer_Olympics|Atlanta
Olympics becoming the first Indian in more than 4
decades to win a individual medal. The previous
individual medalist for India was Khashaba
Dadasaheb Jadhav|JD Jadhav who won a bronze in
1952.

Specialising in Doubles, he was ranked number 1
along with Mahesh Bhupathi.

He was a joint winner of India's highest sporting
honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in the
year 1996-1997 along with Kunjarani|Nameirakpam
Kunjarani.

==Career Highlights==
*1990 - Wimbledon Boys title
*1992 - 1992_Summer_Olympics|Barcelona Olympics,
reached quarter-finals of the doubles competition
*1993 - Davis Cup, reached semi-finals
*1996 - 1996_Summer_Olympics|Atlanta Olympics,
singles bronze-medallist
*1997 - U.S._Open_(Tennis)|US Open doubles,
reached semi-finals
*1998 - reached doubles semi-finals of
Australian_Open|Australian, French_Open|French and
US Open
*1999 - reached doubles finals of all the four
Grand_Slam_in_tennis|Grand Slams, eventually
winning at Wimbledon and French Open.
Mixed
doubles title at Wimbledon
*2001 - French Open doubles title
*2003 - Wimbledon and Australian Open
mixed-doubles title along with Martina Navratilova
*2004 - reached the semi-finals of the double
competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics|Athens
Olympics and finals of U.S._Open_(Tennis)|US Open
doubles