PNN & Agencies
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar, Sept 19: His monumental achievements notwithstanding, controversies keep chasing Leander Paes but the marathon man of Indian tennis asserted late Sunday night that they are nothing more than false propaganda initiated by a few of his ‘highly jealous’ competitors.
Paes did not take any names but said the negativity that is being built around his name in recent times, is a result of a few underachievers’ sinister designs.
Whenever it comes to playing for nation in the Indian team at the big stage, be it Olympics, Asian Games or in Davis Cup, tennis has found itself mired in controversies. But Paes stated that he doesn’t care what people say or think about him since he’s busy writing his name in the history books, that no one can change.
“In this part of my career, most of my competitors are highly jealous. They might not understand what it takes to win 18 Grand Slams and play seven Olympics. Some competitors, you give them 10 life times, they will still not be able to achieve that. Instead of working hard, they want to knock me down,” Paes stated.
It all started when, Paes during the Davis Cup while talking a national news channel, had said that the team selection for the mixed doubles in Rio had not been the right combination. “I had won three mixed doubles Grand Slam titles in 2015-16 and I should have played the mixed. Poor team selection probably cost us a medal.”
Within a few hours, Sania Mirza, without naming anyone tweeted, “The only way to win with a toxic person is not to play with him.” It was clear that she was referring to Paes. A few minutes later Rohan Bopanna re-tweeted Sania’s tweet and added: “At it again!!…the usual ploy to stay in the news by slanging fellow players in media. Patriotism.”
The tweets have made Paes furious, but at the moment he can’t do anything about it and can only fume. “They want to ruin my reputation by doing ulterior things, so that the perception of the public is that Leander is a bad man. It takes a whole lifetime to build a reputation and it takes one second to ruin it,” the 43-year-old pointed out.
“In this modern age of social media, I understand there will be some negativity. Few people are always trying to tarnish my reputation. There are some competitors out there, who are highly jealous of what I have achieved. Instead of working hard, to achieve it themselves, they realise, they can’t to that quantum, so hence, let’s ruin his reputation,” he added.
In spite of not liking the ongoing social media war, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) will not be interfering. Secretary-general of AITA, Hironmoy Chatterjee stated that the body will not step in to diffuse the situation. “They are matured individuals, let them handle it,” stated Chatterjee, Monday.
