Tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi was in the capital to kick-start progressive tennis an initiative that allows 3-10 year olds to get acquainted with tennis with lighter rackets and slower,oversized imported foam balls on a smaller court. On the sidelines of the event,the former doubles world No. 1 spoke about,among other things,Leander Paess 12th Grand Slam and the tough season ahead. Race with Paes With 12 Grand Slam wins under his belt after the Wimbledon mixed doubles title this year,Leander Paes sits pretty with one slam more than Bhupathi. Asked if Paess count plays on the back of his mind,Bhupathi said: No,I dont think the numbers matter because we are both active players right now. Well worry about that once we are retired. U.S. Open Despite losing the 2nd round in the French Open to an unseeded Spanish pair and the 3rd round at Wimbledon in five sets with his Belarus partner Max Mirnyi,Bhupathi said he will continue to play with Mirnyi for the upcoming hard court season which includes the U.S. Open. Its a tough season ahead with indoor hard court tournaments,the U.S. Open,Commonwealth Games and the Asian games coming up but there are no special preparations for the U.S. Open. I will be entering three warm-up tournaments before the Grand Slam. About his mixed doubles campaign,he said,Theres nothing decided for sure right now. Ill go there and see how it goes. Target CWG Bhupathi said he is extremely excited that tennis has been included in the elite event for the first time in the games history. Its a great feeling that tennis has been included this time around and we can play in front of our home crowd and the plan obviously is to win some medals for the country. No Indian tourney Bhupathi,whose efforts have been crucial in bringing international tennis players to India through tournaments,says that currently he has no plans on that front. My academy is focusing on phase 1,which is the development of the sport in the country and training more and more players.
