The legendary Leander Paes on Wednesday lamented the decline of Indian tennis, describing it as part of the “circle of life” while emphasising the need for patience. The Indian team endured a 0-4 defeat against Sweden in its Davis Cup World Group I tie recently, which relegated them to the play-off stage for the upcoming year. “Like anything in life, when you go up, you have to come down, and then you come back up again. I am a big believer in the circle of life,” the former world No 1 in doubles said.

“I think we all need to have a little bit of patience as far as tennis goes. We have all enjoyed such an upswing over the last 40 years, proving that we can be number one in both women’s doubles and men’s doubles.” Currently, Sumit Nagal is the only Indian player in the top 100 of the ATP men’s singles rankings, positioned at 83, while Ramkumar Ramanathan follows at 332.

At 44 years, Rohan Bopanna remains the flag-bearer of men’s doubles in India, currently ranked sixth, with another veteran, Yuki Bhambri, at 43rd.

The WTA rankings reveal a grim situation for Indian women’s tennis, with no players in the top 200; Sahaja Yamalapalli is the highest-ranked Indian at 293.

The 51-year-old further highlighted the significant growth of tennis in India over the past four decades, noting its rise to become the second most popular sport after cricket.

“Over the four decades that I played, tennis grew in popularity so much that it became the number two sport in the country after cricket,” the winner of 18 Grand Slam titles said.

“At the international level, tennis was winning more Grand Slams and international events. Between Sania, Mahesh, Bopanna and me, we have collectively won close to 40 Grand Slam titles, along with Olympic medals and several Asian Games medals. Tennis saw a great period over about 40 years.

“A little bit of patience is needed; the circle of life is playing out. We will experience a slump, but we will rise again.

“The circle of life is evident in everything — business or otherwise. The greatest key to success is patience. I have no doubt that tennis will rise again to the top in India,” he added.

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