Wimbledon Feature Tennis: Why Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were called the Indian Express?

In 1996, at the Atlanta Olympics, Leander Paes won the first-ever Olympic award for India in Tennis since 1952. Soon after, Mahesh Bhupati won the French Open mixed doubles title along with Rika Hiraki of Japan, winning India's first-ever grand slam title in 1997. The two made a perfect duo to play doubles on international platforms. The two played many important championships as a duo and were nicknamed the Indian Express by their fans. 

The duo won many medals, including 25 ATP titles and three grand slam titles. They still hold the record for the duo to have the maximum victories in a row. They held the first position as the best tennis men's doubles duo in the world for a long time and took the Indian tennis scene to a different level. 

Though the duo had started playing together in 1994 only, their team gained fame and popularity only in 1997 when they won their first ATP tour title together at the Chennai Open. The same year they won five more ATP tour titles and another one in 1998. The two couldn't keep calm until they had the most consecutive wins a duo had ever had in the past. Even today, the two hold the Davis Cup record for having the maximum number of victories in a row. 

1999 was undoubtedly the best year for the duo as they reached the finals of all four grand slam tournaments and won two of the Wimbledon and French Open. The first grand slam final of these four was the Australian Open, the first men's doubles grand slam final for both Paes and Bhupathi. Unfortunately, the two couldn't win the title; however, their victory in Wimbledon and French Open took them to world rank number one in the category of men's doubles, a position they held for the entire year. 

This incredible duo continued for a while until they split up in 2002 after winning 7 ATP tour titles and one more French Open in 2001. The French Open of 2001 was the third grand slam title they won together and the last as they decided to part ways in 2002 owing to some personal differences.