Leander Paes becomes first Asian man nominated as player for Tennis Hall of Fame
By Bryan Ke
September 27, 2023
Former professional Indian tennis star Leander Paes made history on Tuesday by becoming the first Asian man nominated as a player for a spot in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Moving the news: Paes, 50, was among the six nominated players the organization unveiled on Tuesday for the Class of 2024.
Joining Paes on the list of nominations are former tennis player from Zimbabwe, Cara Black, 44; Serbian former tennis player Ana Ivanović, 35; Spanish tennis player Carlos Moyá, 47; Canadian former tennis player Daniel Nestor, 51; and Italian former tennis player Flavia Pennetta, 41.
Making history: While Paes is the first Asian man nominated as a player for the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the first Asian to ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame was Chinese tennis player Li Na in 2019.
Paes reacts: In a post on X on Wednesday, Paes said his nomination was an “ultimate honor to be the first-ever representative of India at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2024.”
Impressive track record: During his career, Paes won eight Grand Slams in men’s doubles, consisting of three each at the French Open (1999, 2001 and 2009) and U.S. Open (2006, 2009 and 2013), one at Wimbledon (1999) and another one at the Australian Open (2012).
In addition to his men’s doubles collection of trophies, Paes also had 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles wins under his name in the span of a three-decade career. The majority of those wins, four, were from Wimbledon (1999, 2003, 2010 and 2015), followed by three at the Australian Open (2003, 2010 and 2015), two at the U.S. Open (2008 and 2015) and one at the French Open in 2016.
He also took home the bronze medal in tennis at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Paes is credited as India’s first and only Olympic medalist in tennis.
You can vote: Fans can begin casting their online votes for nominees to be inducted starting Wednesday up to Oct. 9.
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