Leander Paes is a name that has been dragged through controversy only to always come out clean. The Indian tennis star has, without naming anyone, accused a "few people" are always trying to show him in a bad light by tarnishing his hard earned reputation. Paes believes that all the controversies that he has been linked with are nothing more than false propaganda initiated by a few underachievers. This group of "highly jealous" competitors have built a negativity around his name in recent times.
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The marathon man of Indian tennis has won 18 Grand Slams and represented India in seven Olympics. His monumental achievements remain unmatched by any of his competitors.
Also read: Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza involved in public spat following India's Davis Cup loss
In an interview during the recently concluded Davis Cup tie against Spain, he told PTI: “In this part of my career, most of my competitors are highly jealous. They might not understand what it takes to win 18 Grand Slams and play seven Olympics. Some competitors, you give them 10 lifetimes, they will still not be able to achieve that. Instead of working hard, they want to knock me down.
"They want to ruin my reputation by doing ulterior things so that the perception of the public is that Leander is a bad man. It takes a whole lifetime to build a reputation and it takes one second to ruin it."
Whenever he has represented the nation on the biggest stage, be it the Olympics or the Asian Games or the in Davis Cup, the tennis ace has excelled and has performed superlatively.
However, he has always found himself mired in controversies. Paes said he remains ignorant of what people perceive of him as he is busy writing his name in the history books, which no one can alter.
When inquired if he is tired of the negativity and if it frustrates him he had said in a nonchalant way: “I am a human being. But I don’t deal with it now. In this modern age of social media, I understand there will be some negativity. The people who are true and honest, whether they are good with me or not, I respect them.
“Few people are always trying to tarnish my reputation. There are some competitors out there, who are highly jealous of what I have achieved. Instead of working hard, to achieve it themselves, they realise, they can’t to that quantum, so hence, let’s ruin his reputation. One person will put one story here, one there and build perception,” he added with disgust.
The Indian tennis legend said that he could care less about people who "bark" about him and will continue to answer critics the way he does – perform on tennis courts.
“Not to worry about haters. You play your game, you run in your lane, don’t enter into others’ lane. I will write my name in the history books. That is the fruit of your hard work.”
