Tokyo Olympics 2020: Tennis ace Leander Paes won't wait for eighth appearance if Games are cancelled

Leander Paes has revealed he will not wait for four years to make his eighth Olympics appearance if the Tokyo Games do not take place in 2021. In an interaction with Purav Raja during an Instagram Live session, Paes revealed, “If the Tokyo Olympics is cancelled, then I have already played my last Olympics in Rio. I am not going to wait for the next Olympics.” [caption id=“attachment_6740721” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Leander Paes. Image courtesy: Twitter @Leander[/caption] Paes is the only Indian to appear in seven Olympics, starting from Barcelona Games in 1992 and Rio Olympics in 2016. The year 2020 is his last year in professional tennis. Paes, who has won 18 Grand Slam titles, including eight doubles and ten mix doubles, also formed a formidable partnership with Mahesh Bhupati, winning three Grand Slams together. According to a report in TOI, Leander chose Rohan Bopanna’s serve over Bhupathi’s backhand. “God, Mahesh had killer backhand as an ad court player, it was world-class but if I had to choose between the two I would definitely go for Rohan’s serve. His serve is one of the best I have seen on tour and it’s a weapon,” Leander said. During the interaction, Paes also said that he would choose Martina Hingis over Martina Navratilova by a small margin. He said that Hingis complimented his style and he could play his natural game with her. “She allowed me to be the leader and I could just take over the net. Navratilova, on the other hand, led me through and always guided me. She was the leader in our team,” he said. Keywords: Leander Paes, Tokyo, Olympics, Tokyo Olympics, International Olympic Committee, IOC, COVID-19, coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Tennis, Sports,