Indians at Wimbledon: PartII
In 1990, Paes joined the Krishnans as the third Indian to win the jounior Wimbledon title in 1990. Ranked 11 at the time, the Kolkata boy beat South African Marcus Ondruska, seeded two (7-5, 2-6, 6-4).
In 1999, Paes, along with his doubles partner Bhupathi, had their most glorious moment on the Wimbledon greens when they won the men's doubles title. Beat Dutchman Paul Haarhuis and American Jared Palmer (6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6).
Paes and Bhupathi, dubbed the "Indian Express" became the first Indians to win the title. With the French Open doubles crown won two months earlier, the duo went on to become the No 1 doubles pair in the world.
Sania Mirza entered the Wimbledon juniors in 2001, reached the second round, but failed to get past. The Hyderabad girl was then aged 14 and seven months and became the youngest entrant to be accepted by the Wimbledon 2001 committee into the main draw of the Grand Slam event.
The last Indian entry into the Wimbledon circuit was Yuki Bhambri, in 2008. Though he could not make it big, there was promise that not many failed to notice.
India is abuzz with young talent though not many have gone on to make a mark in the international circuit as yet, Sania, Somdev and Prakash Amritraj have given the country lots to cheer about.
The Paes-Bhupathi era was perhaps the turning point for India and their recent domination at the greens would do a lot to pep up the morale of the Indian contingent at Wimbledon, battling for glory for the nation.
