'I am not great'
Paes says he is hungry for more success, eyes on Rio 2016
Fourteen Grand Slam trophies, an Olympic medal and 53 titles on the ATP tour makes him one of the greatest tennis players India has produced but veteran leander Paes on Monday refused to be labelled as great.
"I don't have a great serve, a great forehand or backhand. I just do things with my partners, whoever it is," the 40-year-old star said in a modest self assessment on the eve of Chennai Open.
Paes said he dreams of winning more Grand Slams in 2014 and wants to compete in 2016 Brazil Olympics before hanging his boots.
"I will consult the right people at the right time on retirement and making way for young talents and at the same time set a solid Indian team. I think you are reading my mind. I'll come back to you when I take a decision on this," Paes said.
Paes said he was concerned about the wide gap in the rankings of the Indian players and that has to be "bridged".
"More than their talent, technique and skills, our players need to drastically improve upon their physical fitnesses. The kids abroad are 6ft or more these days. The way they run and stay fit is phenomenal."
Paes had a great start to his doubles career here at the Chennai Open in early 90s, when he began his stint as a doubles player with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and won three titles in a row then two more in 1997 and 2011, said he doesn't consider himself as a great player.
On his hopes for the coming season, the Kolkata born Paes said "this city is sort of home coming for me as I had my basics here from the ages of 12 to 17. I am here because I want to win some more Grand slams and be there for the Olympics. To achieve this, focus is to stay fit and healthy."
Vesley beats jeevan
Young Jiri Vesley of Czech Republic notched his maiden win on the ATP Tour as he shrugged off a 1-4 first set deficit to overcome wild card entry Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 7-5, 6-2, in a first round match.
Vesley survived a tentative start while Nedunchezhiyan, also in his first tour match, did most of the running but could not match his six-foot, six-inch opponent's power and went down rather tamely in 83 minutes.
The 85th ranked Vesley was slow off the blocks, but came into his own as the match progressed and used his height to advantage to wear down Nedunchezhiyan who turned error prone towards the latter part of the match.
At the start though, it was Nedunchezhiyan, ranked 314, who was more impressive as he unleashed winners to jump to a 4-1 lead in the first set.
However, Vesley came up with the breaks to catch up and then broke the Indian in the 11th game for 6-5 before holding serve in the 12th to take the set 7-5.
In the second set, Nedunchezhiyan dropped serve in the first game, but broke back for 1-1.
Also through to the second round was Chinese Taipei's lu Yen-Hsun who put out Tim Smyczek of the US 6-4, 6-2. Earlier, Ramkumar Ramanathan qualified for the main draw by defeating Norbert Gombos of Slovakia 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3, and will play Somdev Devvarman in the first round.
