This trump card of Indian tennis Leander Paes was born in the year 1973 on June 17 in Goa. He belongs to the family of sportsmen. His father Vece Paes is a former international hockey player and was the member of the bronze medal winning team of 1972 Munich Olympic. Leander's mother Jennifer Paes is a former international basketball player. At a tender age of 5, Leander picked up tennis.

This promising tennis player first captured the eye of the nation in the year 1990 when he won the junior Wimbledon title. Since then, every year he has been representing India at various international sporting events including the Olympics and Asian Games. He created history in the year 1996; this amazing boy of Indian lawn tennis captured the eyes of the entire nation when he brought glory for his country men.

In that year at the Atlanta Olympics he went to win the bronze medal in the Men’s Single’s event. It was an individual medal won by an Indian after the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. In that year an individual bronze medal was won by KD Jadhav in wrestling competition.

Leander is an integral part of the Indian Davis Cup team since the year 1990. During his long and illustrious career he has brought glory to the nation not once but numerous times. He is a man born with never-say-die attitude. In the year 1998 he even defeated world number one tennis player Pete Sampras.

Leander teamed up with another Indian ace tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi and the duo dominated the international tennis circle with their unbelievable achievements. In the year 1999 the duo had a dream run in the Grand Slam. They won the French and Wimbledon titles and also reached the finals of the Australian and American Open. This achievement made them first Indian doubles pair to win a Grand Slam tournament. His doubles partnership with Bhupathi was ranked number one in the ATP circuit in the year 1999. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics he was given the honour of leading the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of the Games. In the year 2002 he wrote another golden chapter in the history of Indian sports by winning the doubles Gold Medal at the Busan Asian Games along with his doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi.

Leander’s Davis Cup achievements are remarkable and inspiring. While playing for the nation he has defeated some of the best names in the tennis world like Wayne Farreira, Goran Ivanisevic and many others. In his long tennis career spanning two decades, Leander has won 9 Grand Slam Titles overall till date, including 2009 French Open. Owing to his superb achievements, the Government has conferred the Arjuna Award on him in 1990, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1996 and the Padamshri in 2001.