Leander Paes: I have Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic's rackets
In an interview, Leander Paes spoke about his many years on Tour. The Indian doubles player has met and played many legends and great former and active players. Paes said: "I have a collection of close to 1,000 racquets. I have Rod Laver's, I have a lot of the champions' -- Federer, Nadal, (Novak) Djokovic, Andy (Murray), (Martina) Navratilova I played with a lot. Serena, Venus, Hingis... Wooden ones going back to Bjorn Borg's. My first racquet, I have.
"The game has evolved so much that I've reinvented myself maybe 11, 12, 13, 14 times. I've just come from the gym. I played a match, and now I've just come from the gym to do my work, because for me, if I play, I play to be the best in the world, to win. I play for fun, but I play to win. To play against guys who are 20 years younger than me is not easy."
On Paes, Benoit Paire concluded: "He's very old. But it's not easy to play with a good player like this, because I want to do my best, and sometimes when I miss, I say, Okay, if you play with someone better than me maybe he will win more."
Paes has won 18 Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed doubles. He is trying to make a record seventh appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In April 2018, he also broke Nicola Pietrangeli's longstanding Davis Cup record of 42 doubles rubbers' wins. Paes and Bopanna won their doubles rubber in India's Asia/Oceania Group I tie against China.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2WWrGr4
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