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Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player and the first Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-time and holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. He holds a career Grand Slam in men's doubles and mixed doubles making him one of only three men in the Open era to achieve this distinction and won the rare men's/mixed double at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. Paes, together with Mahesh Bhupathi, were the first pair in Open era history to reach the men's doubles finals of all 4 Grand Slams in the same calendar year (1999). He is currently the brand ambassador of GS Delhi Aces, a team owned by Guru Samruddhi House of Investments in the Tennis Premier League.
His mixed doubles Wimbledon title in 2015 made him the second man (after Rod Laver) to win Wimbledon titles in three different decades. He repeated the feat by winning a Roland Garros title in three different decades with his mixed doubles title in 2016.
Paes received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honor, in 1996–97; the Arjuna Award in 1990; the Padma Shri award in 2001; and India's third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan prize, in January 2014 for his outstanding contributions to tennis. He won a bronze medal for India in men's singles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games making him the first Asian in Olympic history to win a tennis medal and the only Indian to date. He competed in consecutive Olympics from 1992 to 2016, making him the only tennis player to compete in seven Olympic Games. He is also the most decorated male tennis player in Asian Games history with 5 Gold and 3 Bronze medals. He was won medals in every category (singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team event) and is the highest Indian gold medal winning athlete across all sports in Asian Games history.
He is a former Davis Cup team captain, where in addition his Davis Cup all-time doubles win record with 45 victories, he also has the fourth highest number of overall wins in Davis Cup history with 93 total victories across singles and doubles in a 30 year career for India with match wins in 4 different decades. He played in World TeamTennis for the Washington Kastles. He was on the 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 championship teams and was named Male MVP for 2009 and 2011. Paes retired from professional tennis in 2020, following his last Davis Cup tie in Croatia, with a record 1295 weeks spent ranked in the Top 100 in men's doubles.
On 20 July 2024, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
Paes enrolled with the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy in Madras (Chennai) in 1985, where he was coached by Dave O'Meara. Paes earned international fame when he won the 1990 Wimbledon Junior title and reached No. 1 in the junior world rankings at age 17.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics he beat Fernando Meligeni to win the bronze medal, the first Indian to win an individual medal since KD Jadhav won bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Paes cited the match as one of his greatest performances, in part because his wrist was severely injured. He was awarded the highest sporting honor by the government of India, the Khel Ratna in 1996.
His first successful year in the ATP circuit came in 1993, when he partnered with Sébastien Lareau to reach the US Open doubles semifinal. After a moderate season in 1994, he reached the quarter-finals of the 1995 Australian Open doubles with Kevin Ullyett. From 1996, he partnered with fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi. Their first year was not successful, especially in the Grand Slams, reaching the round of 32 only at Wimbledon. 1997 proved to be a much better year for the team, reaching the US Open semifinals. Paes climbed the doubles ranking from no. 89 at the beginning of the year to no. 14 at year-end. That year he made his best singles performance in a Grand Slam, losing in the third round of the 1997 US Open to Cédric Pioline after beating Carlos Costa and Arnaud Boetsch.
The duo had a disappointing second round exit to Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde at the Sydney Olympics. Paes was given the honor of carrying the Indian Flag at the opening ceremony.
In spite of winning the French Open in 2001, Bhupathi/Paes had first-round exits in the other three Grand Slams. Paes was awarded the Padmashri by the Government of India in 2001. The duo of Paes and Bhupathi won the gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. In 2002, Leander paired up with Michael Hill with moderate success.
In the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, he paired up with Bhupathi, failing again at the semifinals stage. His next Grand Slam success was in the US Open doubles event in 2006 with Martin Damm. Paes led the Indian tennis team at the Doha Asian Games in 2006 and won two golds in the men's doubles (with Bhupathi) and mixed doubles (with Sania Mirza). Paes maintained his doubles ranking in the top 20 in the world between 2005 and 2007. With wins in the Rotterdam and Indian Wells, Paes took his doubles tally to 38.
In the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Indian pair (Vishnu Vardhan) lost to French team Michaël Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–7, 6–4, 3–6.
Paes and Štěpánek advanced to the finals at the 2012 US Open after their Spanish opponents, Marcel Granollers and Marc López, retired because of injury. However the duo lost in the final of US Open 2012 to the Bryan brothers.
Paes and Štěpánek began the ATP World Tour Finals with a win against Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Dutchman Jean Julien Rojer, 6–4, 7–5. and avenged their loss to the Bryans and topped their group with 3 wins. They made it to the semifinals, where they were eliminated by eventual runners-up Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna.
On 1 February, Paes captured his seventh Grand Slam mixed doubles crown at the 2015 Australian Open with Martina Hingis. It was his 15th major crown overall and his third mixed doubles triumph at Melbourne Park. The pair beat defending champions Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in the final. As No. 7 seed with Klaasen in men's doubles, Paes lost to eventual champions Bolelli/Fognini in the second round.
At the 2015 French Open, Paes started a new partnership with Daniel Nestor. The pair crashed out in the third round; however, Paes became just the seventh male player in Open Era to complete 700 doubles wins.
At Wimbledon 2015, Paes again teamed up with Hingis to win the mixed doubles championship. The final 6–1, 6–1 score against fifth seeds Alexander Peya and Tímea Babos came after only 41 minutes. Paes/Nestor reached the third round. By winning his 4th Wimbledon mixed doubles title, Paes shared the record for men's titles in the open era with Owen Davidson.Wimbledon Championships (tennis)#Records
On 12 September 2015, Paes won the mixed doubles at the 2015 US Open with Hingis, defeating Sam Querrey and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets.
In 1993, he defeated No. 25 Arnaud Boetsch in straight sets on clay. Paes defeated Henri Leconte in the same week, and although Ramesh Krishnan won the tie-breaker against Rodolphe Gilbert, it was Paes who put that match over the top.
In 1994, he beat World No. 13 Wayne Ferreira in straight sets, but lost the overall tie.
Paes played at the year-end championships with Bhupathi each year from 1997 to 2000, as well as in 2002 and 2011, reaching three finals. In 1997 they lost the final to Rick Leach and Jonathan Stark. They lost 1999 final to Sébastien Lareau and Alex O'Brien. In 2000, they lost the final to Donald Johnson and Pieter Norval.
In 2011, the pair won doubles at the Chennai Open. They reunited to play in a Grand Slam Tournament after nine years and claimed runners-up in the 2011 Australian Open and reached the semifinals in the year-end championships.
The Indian duo has a 303–103 career record together. They have a high success rate against various top teams.Tennislive Match Stats – Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes They have a Davis Cup record for the longest doubles winning streak, with 24 straight wins.Davis Cup Records
Paes paired with Vishnu Vardhan at the London Olympics 2012, following Bhupathi and Bopanna's refusal. Paes threatened to withdraw from the Olympics rather than play with Vardhan, whose world ranking was 296, but withdrew the threat a week later. Paes and Vardhan reached the second round of the tournament, losing to French silver medalists Llodra/Tsonga.
In 2021, Zee5 produced a documentary called Break Point, showing the ups and downs in the relationship between Paes and Bhupathi.
| 2013 | Rajdhani Express | Keshav | Debut film |
| 3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(12–10), 4–6 |
| 6–2, 7–5 |
| 6–7(10–12), 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–4) |
| 6–7, 4–6 |
| 7–6, 6–3 |
| 3–6, 3–6 |
| 6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |
| 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–3 |
| 6–7(5–7), 6–7(10–12) |
| 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 5–7, 2–6 |
| 3–6, 4–6 |
| 7–6(7–1), 6–2 |
| 3–6, 4–6 |
| 6–1, 6–3 |
| 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| 6–4, 5–7, 11–9 |
| 6–4, 7–5 |
| 6–3, 6–3 |
| 6–1, 7–6 |
| 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 6–4, 7–6(8–6) |
| 7–6, 6–4 |
| 7–5, 6–3 |
| 6–2, 6–4 |
| 7–5, 6–3 |
| 6–4, 7–6 |
| 3–6, 7–5, 3–10 |
| 3–6, 7–5, 4–6 |
| 6–4, 6–3 |
| 6–1, 6–1 |
| 6–4, 3–6, 10–7 |
| 4–6, 6–4, 10–8 |
| 1996 | Atlanta | Hard | Fernando Meligeni | 3–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 14–16 |
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | Q1 | Q2 | 1R | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | Q3 | 0 / 5 | 2–5 |
| French Open | A | A | Q2 | A | A | A | 2R | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
| Wimbledon | Q2 | Q1 | Q1 | Q3 | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | 0 / 5 | 1–5 |
| US Open | A | Q3 | Q2 | 1R | Q3 | 2R | 3R | 1R | Q1 | A | A | 0 / 4 | 3–4 |
| National representation | |||||||||||||
| Summer Olympics | NH | 1R | Not Held | SF-B | Not Held | 1R | NH | 0 / 3 | 5–3 | ||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 278 | 194 | 260 | 139 | 130 | 129 | 122 | 91 | 142 | 188 | 299 | ||
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | QF | A | 1R | SF | F | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | 1R | A | F | 3R | 2R | SF | QF | F | W | 1R | QF | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 1 / 24 | 49–23 |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | SF | W | 1R | W | SF | SF | 2R | QF | 1R | 2R | 3R | W | F | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | 3R | QF | 2R | A | 2R | A | 3 / 21 | 53–18 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | Q1 | 1R | 3R | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | W | A | 1R | 1R | SF | 2R | QF | SF | QF | SF | 1R | 2R | 2R | 3R | SF | SF | 3R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | NH | 1 / 24 | 44–23 |
| US Open | A | A | A | SF | 2R | 1R | Q1 | SF | SF | F | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | F | 1R | W | 1R | F | W | 1R | QF | F | W | 3R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | 3 / 25 | 59–22 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 5–4 | 13–4 | 22–2 | 0–3 | 6–3 | 6–4 | 11–3 | 7–4 | 6–3 | 15–3 | 6–4 | 12–4 | 16–2 | 9–4 | 10–4 | 14–3 | 11–3 | 9–3 | 6–4 | 4–4 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 8 / 94 | 205–86 |
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | W | F | A | SF | QF | 2R | 2R | W | 2R | F | 2R | QF | W | QF | QF | A | 2R | 2R | 3 / 20 |
| French Open | A | A | A | 3R | 2R | QF | 3R | QF | 2R | 2R | 2R | F | QF | QF | 1R | 2R | QF | QF | SF | 2R | A | 2R | W | 1R | A | A | NH | 1 / 20 |
| Wimbledon | 3R | A | 1R | QF | QF | W | A | 3R | QF | W | 3R | A | QF | QF | 2R | F | W | QF | F | 2R | 2R | W | 3R | 1R | A | 1R | NH | 4 / 22 |
| US Open | A | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | F | 2R | A | SF | QF | 1R | F | W | F | QF | SF | QF | A | QF | W | 2R | A | A | A | NH | 2 / 19 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 2 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 2 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 3 / 4 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 10 / 81 |
| National representation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summer Olympics | Not held | QF | Not held | A | Not held | 0 / 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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