New Delhi: At 44, with 18 Grand Slam titles and an Olympic medal in his trophy cabinet, Leander Paes is finding it ‘tough to set new goals’ but still spent his off-season getting stronger to remain relevant in modern day tennis, which is being dominated by brute power.
Many of his contemporaries have become coaches and many of his juniors have already hung their racquets but this Indian legend’s hunger for tennis is far from satiated.
“For me the off-season is about skill, endurance, weights, core, back, reinventing my game because now the game has become physical. All these boys are 6’3”, 6’5”. They are so strong, that your reaction time becomes less because the ball is being hit so hard,” Paes said.
“So, the off-season for me is more about physical fitness and also about setting new goals because I am finding it very tough to set new goals,” Paes told this agency.
The question of retirement keeps popping now and then with many wondering what keeps him going?
“Right now I am going through a beautiful part of my tennis career, where I don’t need to prove anything. To be able to still control the ball, to be still able to command the court, it still motivates me,” he pointed out.
“I enjoy the game. I have achieved everything, I wanted to. Now I am playing for myself. I want to motivate people around the world that if Leander can do something even through hard and tough times, then everybody else can.
“We live in times, where life is very hard. There is terrorism, poverty, the cost of living is rising, lots of scams but you need good role models out there to show that life is tough but can be good too. I want to be one such role model,” asserted the veteran.
When asked if he still wants to play one more Asian Games and the Olympics, Paes replied: “That does not push me. I play, because I have fun, because I love tennis. If that (Asian Games and Olympics) comes along, wonderful.”
Press Trust of India
