India has a long way to go to find its next grand slam champion, feels Leander Paes, who has 18 major titles under his belt. With Sania Mirza announcing that this will be her last year on tour, and Paes and Bhupathi already out of the picture, India’s next lot of players have huge shoes to fill.

“I have huge respect for the current crop of Indian players like Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Purav Raja, Ankita Raina and others.

“It is very difficult to carry on with such a tough professional career specially when 90 per cent of the tournaments happen outside India. The travel expense, the huge funds needed for coaching and training – it is not easy to play with such pressure on you.

“Having done it myself for so many years, I have huge respect for them. But I feel India still has a long way to go to have the next grand slam champion. A lot of work needs to be done as far as infrastructure and facilities for players are concerned.”

Paes was with his father Dr Vece Paes and girlfriend Kim Sharma at the CCFC on Sunday where the second edition of the Dr Vece Paes Cricket Cup was played.

India cricketer Yusuf Pathan and Paes took part in the match which is organized to celebrate the life of the 76-year-old Vece, for his contribution to Indian sport, both as a player and a doctor.

Asked if there was any chance of Paes picking up the racket again, specially with Asian Games and Commonwealth Games coming up, he replied in the negative.

“I am humbled and grateful to have played a great innings for India. But I am not interested in playing in a bubble (due to the pandemic) at this stage of my career. It is very difficult to be in a bubble specially in tennis due to the very nature of the sport that involves so much of travelling. The wear and tear of travelling, the Covid-19 risks, risks of injury – it is really not possible anymore.

“So I have decided not to play in this situation. But it has been a very satisfactory journey. I think I have played my last professional match, in the Davis Cup versus Croatia in March 2020.”

Though India lost the tie, Paes and Rohan Bopanna won the doubles 6-3, 6-7 (9-11), 7-5 against Mate Pavic and Franko Skugor.