Olympics moment: Leander Paes wins bronze in Atlanta

“In the semis I meet Leander Paes, from India. He’s a flying jumping bean, a bundle of hyperkinetic energy, with the tour’s quickest hands. Still, he’s never learned to hit a tennis ball. He hits off-speed, hacks,chips, lobs — he’s the Brad of Bombay. Then, behind all his junk, he flies to the net, covers so well that it seems to work. After an hour, you feel as if he hasn’t hit one ball cleanly — and yet he’s beating you soundly. Because I’m prepared, I stay patient, stay calm, and beat Paes 7-6 6-3.”
—Andre Agassi ,  the 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medallist, describes his semifinal against Leander Paes.

He has won more Grand Slams than any other Indian, yet Paes’s eyes light up at the mention of the singles bronze he won 16 years ago. The success put him on a par with his father, Vece — who was part of India’s bronze medal-winning hockey team in 1972 — and also ended India’s 44-year wait for an individual Olympic medal.

There were a lot of expectations from Paes. He was the country’s flag bearer along with long-jumper Anju Bobby George and his exploits in the run up to the Games had generated quite a buzz. Four years earlier at Barcelona, he and Ramesh Krishnan had reached the doubles quarterfinals. But no one really expected him to do so well in the singles. Ranked 127th at that time, he had received a wild card entry.

Always an underdog, Paes won his first three matches with ease by defeating Richey Reneberg (US), Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela)and Thomas Enqvist (Sweden). In the quarterfinals, he was up against 14th seed Italian Renzo Furlan. Paes had already surpassed all expectations. Paes went all out and emerged a 6-1 7-5 winner.

Up next was Agassi. Playing the world’s top player in front of a partisan crowd wasn’t easy. But Paes stretched the American to the limit, taking the first set to the tie-breaker. A missed volley at a crucial stage gave Agassi the advantage. Paes ran out of steam in the second, and eventually lost 6-7 3-6. “He hit like maybe 25 drop shots,” Agassi said. “That’s strange. But just because he plays strange doesn’t mean it’s not good. It’s just strange.”

In the bronze medal playoff, Paes was up against Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni. After losing the first set 3-6, a resurgent Paes surprised Meligeni by playing aggressively and won the next two sets 6-2 6-4 to claim the medal.