Putting their bitter relationship aside, Mahesh Bhupathi revealed on Friday that he tried roping in his former doubles partner leander Paes for his brainchild team event International Premier Tennis league (IPTl) for the inaugural season last year.
Once named the 'Indian Express' leander Paes off- and on relationship with his partner Mahesh Bhupathi drew constant attention from the media. During 2006 Asian Games after defeat to Chinese-Tapei team, the former raised questions about latter's commitment for the team.
"We tried really hard to get him (Paes) last year but he had already signed for the other league. We all know that leander is an entertainer and he loves the big stage and playing in front of big crowds. So, I knew our format is fit for him. And he loves team formats as he's won the Team Tennis event six years in a row. And it's a good thing we have him with us," he said before the exhibition game to promote the upcoming IPTl.
last year, Paes had been part of the Champions Tennis league where he represented the Punjab Marshalls.
At a promotional event earlier in the day, Bhupathi said that there was room for more leagues and more tweaking with regular formats. "There is so much room for any sport that comes around. Two years ago who would have thought kabaddi would create the kind of buzz it has, or that 80,000 people would come watch a tennis match last year, or that wrestling would make it big. It's just the beginning, and the potential is immense. We haven't even started scratching the surface," he claimed.
Sania Mirza who shared the stage with Bhupathi in the pre-match press conference at the RK Khanna Stadium before facing Paes and Martina Navratilova beamed about the year gone by where she won three Grand Slams with her Swiss partner Martina Hingis. “It was a great season and it's visible from the fact that we've not lost a match since August. We've won 10 titles this year which is huge for me. We're looking forward to bigger and better IPTl now than last year. Then next year we have the Olympics but we there’s six-seven months of worrying before that,” she stated calmly as she contemplates who she will partner with at Rio: Paes or Rohan Bopanna.
With the IPTl just five days away, Bhupathi stayed optimistic for the tournament. He mentioned that there were things that they had to learn from in the first edition and he remained coy on the Indian team playing it’s future matches in another city.