Game, set and Grand Slam title for Mahesh Bhupati

On little things, great achievements hinge.

A day before the start of the French Open, a WTA official came up to Indian tennis ace Leander Paes and asked him if he would be interested in pairing with Japanese Davis Cupper Rika Hiraki in the mixed doubles event.

Paes, rather more intent on his singles and doubles, was not interested.

His Davis Cup partner, who was approached by the WTA official next, on Paes' recommendation, was.

The rest, as the cliche goes, was the stuff of history for both players - Hiraki and Bhupati went on to win the first Grand Slam titles in the history of their respective countries (see pic, courtesy PTI).

A first round bye was followed by a 2-6, 6-2, 9-7 win in the second round over Katrin Kunce of Australia and Scott Davis of the United States. In the pre-quarters, the Hiraki-Bhupati pair defeated number six seeds Alexandra Fusai of France and Davis Adams of South Africa, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4. Followed a quarterfinal win over young prodigy Anna Kournikova of Russia and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas 7-5, 6-0, a semifinal triumph over the Sukova brother and sister pairing of Helena and Cyril of the Checz Republic 6-4, 6-4 - and there was tennis history right there for Bhupati, who became at that point the first Indian to enter the final of a Grand Slam mixed doubles event.

It was perhaps gilding on his cake that he got to play the final on Saturday - his 23rd birthday. "We are just planning to go out there and give it everything we have got," the Indian youngster said on the eve of the final against top seeded Americans Lisa Raymond and Patrick Galbraith, winners of the 1996 US Open title.

Their best proved to be more than good enough - 58 minutes after walking out on Centre Court, the 16th seeded combo was serving for the match, and the title. "What better birthday present could I have hoped for?" asked a joyful Bhupati, moments later.

Hiraki and Bhupati first broke for a 5-4 lead in the first set before serving out the opening set to love. In the second set, they started off with a 0-1 deficit, then went on to serve out six straight games to wrap up the title - and for the first time in the Open era, beginning 1968, Japan and India had got a Grand Slam title apiece.

"I remember being very nervous in our first game together," recalls Bhupati. "I had never played mixed doubles before, and was not moving well at all. But after that win, we were really relaxed, and had a good time out on court."

Former Indian ace Vijay Amritraj, now a tennis commentator, made special mention of the body language of the two partners. "All the time they were on court they were totally at ease, you could see them laughing, joking with each other and apparently under no pressure at all. That helped them stay totally loose, even when the run of play was against them at times - and that is very important for a winning combo," Amritraj said on Star Sports, while commenting about the win.

For Bhupati, the win - coming in mid season - caps a tremendous run. When the 1996 tennis season ended, the Madras-born player, initially trained by his father and former national player C G K Bhupati and finished by the Britannia Amritraj Tennis centre, was ranked a lowly 487 on the ATP computer. By the start of the French Open, he had jumped to 284. More impressive, however, has been his performance in the doubles where, riding his strong serve which makes up, in part, for a lesser degree of mobility than that of Paes, Bhupati moved to number 52 in the world rankings, one ahead of his more famed colleague.

Bhupati, who is based in Bangalore, debuted for India in 1995, playing in the relegation tie against the Phillipines. His best year has been the ongoing one, in which he downed Chile's number 79 ranked Carlos Costa in the California Challenger in February, then won three rounds of the Mexian Challenger and went on to win two ATP doubles titles in company of Paes, the Gold Flake Indian Open at Chennai in April followed by the Czech Open in Prague.

Congratulatory messages have come pouring in from the likes of Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Union minister for human resources development S R Bommai, former tennis great Ramanathan Krishnan (who called it "a fitting achievement as we celebrate the 50th year of Indian independence"), the All India Tennis Association and, of course, from former India star Vijay Amritraj.

But the comment Bhupati most values, perhaps, came from his partner. "That day," Hiraki recalled, "I was standing in the players' lounge of the Suzanne Lenglen court. I saw Bhupati, and it seemed that he was looking for someone. My coach was with me, and he spoke to Bhupati about teaming up with me for the mixed doubles. That was the luckiest moment of my life, to date!"

The past, as prologue

Before Bhupati went one better, four Indians had made the semifinal stage of Grand Slam events, as detailed here:

In 19225, Jagat Mohan Lal reached the semifinals of the men's doubles in the French Hardcourt Championships.

In 1960, Ramanathan Krishnan made it to the semifinals of the men's singles at Wimbledon before losing to the eventual winner, Neale Fraser of Australia.

A year later, Krishnan again made it to the semis at Wimbledon, before losing to eventual winner Rod Laver of Australia.

In 1976, Vijay Amritraj reached the semifinals of the men's doubles at Wimbledon, partnered by brother Anand.

In 1993, Leander Paes reached the semifinals of the men's doubles at the U S Open.

Statistical input from Anant Gaundalkar