The physical appearance betrays the fitness and sharp thinking that accompanies him on to the court. Leander Paes, the oldest man to win a Grand Slam, a feat he accomplished last week when he won the Men’s Doubles US Open Title, is still a wild cat on the hunt on court, the speed of the hands and the suppleness of the torso working in tandem and placing the tennis ball exactly as the mind had demanded.

Pairing up with Radek Stepanek, the win in the US Open Finals was taken as a forgone conclusion once the duo had beaten the current best in business, the Bryan brothers of Bob and Mike in the semis much to the disappointment of the partisan crowd gathered at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Indeed, the Finals proved to be so, with the eventual winners pocketing 8 of the first 9 games and breaking the opponents right in the beginning of the second set after taking the first set 6-1. Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares were struggling to make themselves counted much before Peya’s back started giving him trouble in the middle of the second set and they lost in straight sets to the Indo-Czech pair.

Paes’ speed, reflexes, net game and drop shots complement his partner’s game who finds comfort playing from the baseline and looks untroubled with long rallies.

What made Leander to stick with Stepanek when the latter had had a spinal surgery earlier in the year – was it Lee’s practical reading of his phase in his career, understanding the effort involved in working out the chemistry with another partner right from scratch; or a genuine friend cum partner who believed as much as Stepanek did that he would soon be fit enough to play and compete at the highest level; or a mix of both, we would not know.

But what we do know in retrospect is that Leander made the right choice, the two seem to have forged a partnership based on trust and friendship, patience and backing. Their on-court antics during the US Open, an involuntary invention as they seemed to indicate was as much fun to them as was flavour to the game.

Paes has been on the tennis circuit for more than two decades and seems impregnable to the degeneration that accompanies age. Whether he’d be playing Olympics in Rio or not is not a decision that would ride on Leander alone, there would be a lot of younger players and veterans fighting to capture the attention of the AITA (All India Tennis Association) but the old warhorse refuses to surrender.

The Olympics are still a few years away and the legs might not be as strong as they were a few years back but with a mind and game as strong as his, a ticket to Brazil in 2016 might just be beckoning for this ageless wonder. The Indian fans would be watching keenly.