Paes and Bhupathi, end of a golden era

India won another gold at the Doha Asian Games yesterday, when Paes and Bhupathi defeated a Thai pair in a thrilling match. The result read 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. Immediately after the victory, Paes announced his break-up with Bhupathi and said he would never partner Bhupathi again. The duo who have won many laurels for India in the past and have had ego-clashes for quite sometime and the end was inevitable, but the sudden announcement after the gold medal came as a shock to everyone.

The duo inspired a new generation of players like Sania, Rohan Bopanna, Ritwik, Rushmi Chakravarthy and others to take up tennis as a career.

I guess all good things have to come to an end and that is what has happened to Paes and Bhupathi. It is bad news for Indian tennis. We have to move on and identify new players to carry the mantle of Paes and Bhupathi.