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'Good for the boys', says Dr Paes

Former hockey Olympian Dr Vece Paes today confirmed that his son Leander and Mahesh Bhupathi are back together for good.

Dr. Paes told rediff.com that Leander and Mahesh coming together in the US Open was the beginning of a move towards a permanent reunion.

" I am happy that they finally put their personal differences aside in the interests of their own game. I have not spoken to Leander for the past one week," Dr Paes said. "But during our last conversation, he told me that he and Mahesh had now decided to take it tournament by tournament.They will play together in two or three tournaments before leading India's quest for a medal in the doubles event at Sydney. It's heartening that both are slowly coming back to their earlier selves and performing well," Paes Sr. said.

After Long Island, the Indian duo will feature in next month's Tashkent Open, before going to Sydney for the Olympics.

The question remains, what of the partners they had already committed to? Paes Senior had always maintained that there was no question of a reunion because Leander had committed to partnering Jan Siemerink this year. "Both Leander and Mahesh have asked their respective partners to excuse them," Dr Paes, who will be accompanying the Indian tennis team to Sydney as team doctor, said.

When asked whether the issue of Leander's objections to Mahesh's coach Enrico Piperno were resolved, Dr Paes said it had been decided to let old issues lie, and not rake them up all over again.

Sources indicate that both Leander and Mahesh had their eyes opened by their abject failure on the doubles circuit, which in tandem they had ruled last year. This year, neither of them could get into even the quarterfinals of any of the four Slams -- as opposed to last year, when they took two of the titles and were losing finalists in the other two.

Dr. Paes said that with Leander and Mahesh teaming up again, India's hopes for a medal in Sydney had brightened. "It is good that they are playing in three ATP championships before Sydney, this gives them a chance to get their rhythm and confidence back. Knowing they are back together, and that they were the world's best pair last year, will do wonders to their depleted morale."