Lee-Damm just a win away from being No.1

NEW DELHI: Leander Paes has been on extended R&R since the Davis Cup tie in the first week of April and goes into the Rome Masters fresh from a break in the Maldives.

He and partner Martin Damm were on the verge of inching ahead of the top-ranked doubles pair of Bob and Mike Bryan on the Doubles Champions Race at the Miami Masters but they lost a close final.

“We are just a win away from being ranked the number one team in the world. We almost had it in Miami but it slipped away,” said Leander.

Considering the fact that Leander and Damm have been together for only a year and a few months as compared to the established pairs like the Bryan brothers, Knowles-Nestor and Bjorkman-Mirnyi, the jump to world number two has been quite remarkable.

One of the pivotal factors has been utilising the services of Czech triathlete David Zydra as personal trainer. “He doesn’t understand English, perhaps that’s why he does not know how to say stop,” laughs Leander when quizzed on how two guys on the wrong side of thirty seem to be sprouting fresh legs.