Mahesh Bhupathi is considered one of the top doubles players of the 1990s and 2000s. In 1999, Bhupathi won three doubles titles with Leander Paes, including the French Open and Wimbledon. He and Paes 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 Openmixed 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 the first one for Hingis. By winning the Australian Open, Bhupathi completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.
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 Indian pair thus made up for the disappointment of the previous year's final when they were beaten by Sun Tiantian 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 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 rejoined starting with the Monte-Carlo Masters.[12]
Playing style
Mahesh Bhupathi is known for his strong serve. According to Rafael Nadal, his strong backhand makes him the best for an Ad Court player. Roger Federer acclaims him as one of the best doubles players of all time.[13] He often discusses strategies between the serves with his partner during the match and also communicates using finger-at-the-back signals.
Year-end finals
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 to 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 appeared at the finals 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.[14]
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.
Bhupathi has donned Indian colours numerous times for the Davis Cup as well as other international tournaments, including the Asian Games.
Bhupathi has played 55 matches for India in the Davis Cup (from 1995 to 2011), winning 35 and losing 20. Out of the 35 matches that he won, 27 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 is the founder of Globosport India private Limited which he started in 2002 as a sports and entertainment agency.[16]
He married model Shvetha Jaishankar in 2002 but the couple got divorced in 2009 after seven years of marriage.[17] He then married Miss Universe 2000Lara Dutta in a civil ceremony on 16 February 2011 at Bandra, Mumbai.[18] It was followed by a Christian ceremony on 20 February 2011 at Sunset Point in Goa.[19]
On 1 August 2011, Dutta confirmed that she was pregnant with their first child. Their daughter Saira was born on 20 January 2012.[20] In 2010, the couple started a film production company, Big Daddy Productions.[21]
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.
Other partners
India – Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/Other Events
Paes and Bhupathi decided 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,[24][25] but lost to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan.[26] Paes stated at the time that the best thing has been to have their friendship back.[27]
The Indian duo has a 303–103 career record together. They have a Davis Cup record of longest winning streak in doubles, with 23 straight wins.[28]
Leander Paes wanted to play with Mahesh Bhupathi in the men's doubles event of the London Olympics, to be held July–August 2012.[29]
On 19 June 2012, the 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.[30] Bhupathi also accused AITA of using Sania Mirza as bait for Leander's participation in the Olympics.[31] When AITA relented to the wishes of Bhupathi and Bopanna and permitted them to play together, they lost in the second round to the unseeded French pairing of Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau.
Davis Cup record
The duo of Bhupathi and Paes has the longest doubles streak in Davis Cup history.
Bhupathi has also been involved in developing tennis facilities in India and, along with his company Globosport, has played a key role in developing and managing the careers of many Indian athletes, including Sania Mirza.[32]
International Premier Tennis League
Mahesh Bhupathi announced the founding of the International Premier Tennis League on 25 May 2013, in Paris. The initial plan was to start the league with six charter franchises in Asia with the inaugural season commencing in November 2014. Bhupathi said the league would be modeled after the Indian Premier League, a cricket league in India. Justin Gimelstob said that the league would be star-driven as World Team Tennis was in the 1970s.[33]
In popular culture
Break Point – A documentary series of Zee5 app released in 2021 unfolding the ups and downs in the relationship between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.[34]
^Sinhl, Gauri (2 September 2002). "Shvetha & Mahesh? Why knot!". The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.