Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi: Bitter Partners

Paes hogged the limelight while Bhupathi was more of a reserved character. The advent of their rough phase is marked by Paes' trainer, Enrico Piperno, and his distaste for Bhupathi. Apart from that, Bhupathi’s association with Globosport, a sports management firm, also added fuel to the fire.

Mahesh and Leander’s separation is delineated in the seven-part docu-series 'Break Point,' directed by Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, available on Netflix.

Leander's coach, Bob Carmichael, even locked them up in a massage room and instructed them to resolve their issues. Mahesh asked Leander to address his problems but was bombarded with something even more surprising.

Leander disclosed, "It was hard for me, 1999. There were so many things for me that were breaking down. I was at a very fragile stage in my life with my tennis partnership, with my relationship. And I was being told rumours about Mahesh being close to her, very close to her."

Mahesh replied, "I looked at him and I said, ‘Leander are you being serious? Do you actually believe in your heart that I would do something like that?’ He said yes. I said, ‘Then this is a lot more broken than I thought it was.’ And that was the end of French Open discussion."

However, Leander was not willing to let it slide. "And he got up and he stormed out of the room. He pulled out of the conversation. He didn't even answer the question," as revealed by Bhupathi.

The media is not privy to the identity of the woman being referred to. Leander dated actor Mahima Chaudhary for a while before parting ways in the early 2000s. She later stated that he cheated on her with Sanjay Dutt's second wife, Rhea Pillai. Leander and Rhea moved in together and gave birth to a daughter before breaking up.

Mahesh, on the other hand, married Shvetha Jaishankar in 2002 and they stayed together for seven years. In 2011, he tied the knot with Lara Dutta and they now have a daughter, Saira.

The partnership between Mahesh and Leander was nicknamed the ″Indian Express″ and they have a 303-103 career record together. They also have a Davis Cup record of the longest winning streak in doubles, with 23 straight wins. The split was evident by 2002, despite occasionally participating in National Team events.

After losing a match in the 2006 Asian Games, Leander raised his suspicion towards Bhupathi’s loyalty to India although they paired up for the 2008 Beijing Olympics later.

Their next win arrived in 2011 when they won the doubles title at Chennai Open and subsequently reached the Australian Open final a few weeks later. Although it is worth noting that Leander had lost all interest in retaining his working relationship with Mahesh and locked arms with Radek Stepanek in 2012.

Mahesh Bhupathi ultimately announced his retirement in 2013, after amassing 12 Grand Slam titles and Leander Paes with 18 Grand Slams to his credit had planned to retire in 2020 but Covid-19 derailed his plans.

Now, it is not decided whether he will continue playing international.