“I Hope I Can Roar”- Leander Paes Gets Emotional Ahead Of Retirement

Indian tennis legend Leander Paes is currently playing in his last ATP tour in India. Paes is participating in the Maharashtra Open with Matthew Ebden.

Leander had announced in December that 2020 will be his last year in tennis. He will do select tournaments under the banner of ‘One last roar’.

The controversial star opened up on his feelings regarding his final tour in his home country.

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What Did Leander Paes Say?

Paes was full of emotions with respect to his final ATP tour in India-

“Coming to Pune in 2020 is a really emotional tournament for me because of the fact that it’s been 31 years that I’ve been playing tennis and this is my final year. In this farewell year, I will call it one last roar and I hope I can roar really loud for my fans.”

Leander Paes was ecstatic about the support that he receives from his fans. The 18-time grand slam champion revealed the impact that fans have on his game-

“I have played many years because all of you have inspired me so much. All of you have given me wind within my wings to play for you over the last 30 years. Playing this whole season, at the Australian Open, that was my 97th grand slam appearance.”

However, the fact that he is playing in India is what makes Leander the happiest –

“Playing in India on home soil always means something special to me. To motivate all the youngsters to be the best they can be. This is something that I’ve strived to do throughout my whole career. I hope that this week as well we can have a great performance from all our Indian players. I hope that the tournament here in Pune keeps growing in India, and keeps growing in big strides.”

Leander revealed that the idea to retire struck him in September. He asked his entire team, friends and family for suggestions on the best ideas to retire. Almost all of them had a consensus on the fact that he should do a retirement tour. This would allow him to engage with all the tournaments, players and fans that gave him so much over the course of his illustrious career.

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A career that is highlighted by grand slam trophies and Olympic medals.

Leander was hopeful that there will be a second inning. This means that he will be exploring other avenues. However, he made it perfectly clear that this was the end of the road for Leander Paes- the prpfessional tennis player.