Mahesh Bhupathi

Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian professional tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a Grand Slam tournament (with Rika Hiraki).[a] With his win at the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2006, he joined the elite group of eight tennis players who have achieved a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.

1995–2006
Mahesh Bhupathi is best known as one of the top doubles players in the 1990s and 2000s. In 1999, Bhupathi won three doubles titles with Leander Paes, including French Open and Wimbledon. He and Leander became the first doubles team to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams, the first time such a feat has been achieved in the open era and the first time since 1952. On 26 April of that year, they became the world no. 1 doubles team. Bhupathi also won the US Open mixed doubles with Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

In 2006, Bhupathi teamed with Martina Hingis in the Australian Open mixed doubles competition. Entering the tournament unseeded and as wildcards,[3] the first-time pair defeated four seeded opponents along the way, while only dropping a single set throughout. Bhupathi and Hingis defeated the sixth-seeded team of Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3, to capture the championship. It was the sixth mixed doubles Grand Slam for Bhupathi, and a first for Hingis. By winning the Australian Open, Bhupathi completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.

2007–2008
In 2007, Bhupathi and Czech Radek Štěpánek reached the 2007 Australian Open men's doubles event's quarterfinals. He teamed with Štěpánek at the 2007 French Open to make the doubles semifinals, defeating two-year defending champions Jonas Björkman and Max Mirnyi in the quarterfinals. The team lost to the eventual champions Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. After Wimbledon, Bhupathi teamed with Pavel Vízner to win the 2007 Canada Masters, defeating the top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan en route. After this victory, he won a tournament in New Haven with Nenad Zimonjić. At the 2007 US Open, he and Zimonjić paired in doubles. After the US Open, the team that beat Bhupathi and Štěpánek in the French Open semifinals, Knowles and Nestor, split up. Bhupathi became Knowles' partner,[4] while Zimonjić became Nestor's, but back surgery meant he was out until the end of the year.[5]

2009–2012
In 2009, Bhupathi and compatriot Sania Mirza won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open, beating Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram, 6–3, 6–1, in the final. The ace Indian pair thus made up for the disappointment of the previous year's final when they were beaten by Tiantian Sun and Nenad Zimonjić. With this win, Bhupathi's count in mixed doubles Grand Slam titles increased to seven.

Bhupathi broke up his partnership with Knowles and began playing once again with Max Mirnyi, with whom he played to win the 2002 US Open.[6] In 2011, Bhupathi reunited with former playing partner Leander Paes for the 2011 Australian Open. The team of Bhupathi and Paes reached the final, but lost, 3–6, 4–6, to the Bryan brothers.[7] On 7 June 2012, Bhupathi and Sania Mirza won the French Open mixed doubles.[8] On 4 November 2012, Bhupathi and partner Rohan Bopanna won the Paris Masters cup.[9] In spite of suffering a setback with their loss against Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen in the ATP Tour Finals opener,[10] the Indian duo reached the final round of the ATP Tour Finals, but suffered a defeat at the hands of Marcel Granollers and Marc López.[11]

2013
Bhupathi and Bopanna played with different partners for the first three months of 2013, Bhupathi winning the tournament in Dubai in March with Michaël Llodra, but have rejoined forces starting with the Monte Carlo Masters.[12]

Playing Style
Mahesh Bhupathi is known for big serves in Doubles Tennis. According to Nadal, his strong back hand makes him the best for an Ad Court player. Roger Federer acclaims him as one of the best players of all time.[13] He often discusses strategies between the serves with partners during the match, and also communicates with partner using finger-at-the-back signals during the match. He's also a better smasher when compared with his fellow Indian Partner.

Year-end finals[14]
Bhupathi appeared with Paes in six season finales.

In 2011, they appeared, for the first time since 2002, after securing qualification in mid-October.

Bhupathi played at the year-end championships with Paes from 1997–2000 and in 2002, reaching three finals. In 1997, they lost the final to Rick Leach and Jonathan Stark. They lost the 1999 final to Sébastien Lareau and Alex O’Brien. In 2000, they lost the final to Donald Johnson and Pieter Norval.

Bhupathi also qualified with Max Mirnyi in 2003, 2004, and 2010, when they finished runners-up to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić.

He also appeared at the season closer with Mark Knowles in 2008 and 2009. In 2012, he and Rohan Bopanna made it to the final, where they lost to Marcel Granollers and Marc López.

Doubles

 * Wins (4)
 * Runner-ups (6)

Mixed doubles: 12 (8–4)
By winning the 2006 Australian Open title, Bhupathi completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam. He became the eighth male player in history to achieve this.

Davis Cup and Asian Games
Bhupathi has donned Indian colours numerous times for the Davis Cup as well as other international tournaments, including the Asian Games.

Bhupathi has played 46 matches for India in the Davis Cup (from 1995 to 2006), winning 28 and losing 18. Out of the 28 matches that he won, 20 of his victories came in doubles matches.

In 2006, Bhupathi won the doubles championship with Leander Paes at the Asian Games in Doha.[15]

Personal life
In 2001, he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian awards. Bhupathi is an alumnus of the University of Mississippi in the United States. He was married to model Shvetha Jaishankar, but they divorced after seven years.[citation needed]

He then married Lara Dutta in a civil ceremony on 16 February 2011 at Bandra, Mumbai.[16] It was followed by a Christian ceremony on 20 February 2011 at Sunset Point in Goa.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18">[17]

On 1 August 2011, Dutta confirmed that she was pregnant with their first child. Their daughter Saira was born on 20 January 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19">[18] In 2010, the couple started a film production company, Big Daddy Productions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[19]

Partners in mixed doubles

 * These lists only consists of players who played with Mahesh Bhupathi in ATP(& ITF)-recognized tournaments which include the Olympics, Grand Slams, World Tour Finals, World Tour Masters, World Tour Series, Davis Cup Ties, and ATP Challengers. The lists might be incomplete when all the other tournaments are considered. The order of the players in the list is based on their first partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi.

India – Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/Other Events

 * Leander Paes

Partnership with Leander Paes
Bhupathi and Leander Paes partnered in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but lost the quarterfinals,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[20] to Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who went on to win the gold medal.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22">[21]

Leander and Mahesh decided never to team up again at the Australian Open 2011, ending a nine-year separation on the ATP circuit. They reached the finals of the event, by mistake<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23">[22] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24">[23] but lost to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[24] Paes stated at the time that the best thing has been to have their friendship back.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26">[25]

The Indian Duo has a 303–103 career record together, unluckily for India. They have higher failure rate against various top teams.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[26] They have a Davis Cup record of longest winning streak in doubles, with 23 straight wins.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28">[27]

Mahesh Bhupathi wanted to play with Leander Paes in men's doubles event of the London Olympics, to be held in July–August 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29">[28] On 19 June 2012, All India Tennis association relented to the demands of Bhupathi and Bopanna of not playing along Paes. Two teams were sent for the London Olympics- 2012,with Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna as one team and the other team consisting of Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30">[29] Bhupathi also accused AITA for using Sania Mirza as a bait for Leander's participation in the Olympics.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31">[30] Despite AITA relenting to the wishes of Bhupathi and Bopanna and permitting them to play together, they crashed out in the second round to the unseeded French pairing of Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau.There have been rumors of bar fights over woman between the two tennis stars. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[31]

Davis Cup Record
The Duo has the longest doubles streak in Davis Cup History. In the contemporaries, only Bob and Mike Bryan have come near the win record of Indian Express in Davis Cup. They are two wins away from equaling the Indian Express.

Sports management and sports-based e-commerce
Bhupathi has also been involved in developing tennis facilities in India and, along with his company Globosport, has played a key rôle in developing and managing the careers of many Indian athletes, including Sania Mirza.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33">[32]

Awards

 * Padma Shri, 2001
 * Sports people for Change Karmaveer Puraskaar, 2007, iCONGO-Confederation of NGOs
 * Davis Cup Commitment Award