Leander Paes became the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup as he combined with Rohan Bopanna to not only grab a record 43rd win but also bring India back in tie against China in Tianjin on Saturday.
Forced to play together by AITA, 44-year-old Paes and Bopanna downed a fighting Chinese pair of Mo Xin Gong and Ze Zhang 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(3) in the do-or-die doubles match of the Asia/Oceania Group I tie.
India were trailing 0-2 in the tie after Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal suffered surprise tame defeats on Friday and needed a win in the doubles to stay alive in the tie.
The indian youngsters will now have to win both the reverse singles to advance to the World Group Play-offs.
Paes, India's Davis Cup hero for years, was tied on 42 doubles wins with Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli for long but finally surpassed him.
Paes had made his Davis Cup debut in 1990 along side Zeeshan Ali, who is now coach of the side, and grew into a legend in the company of Mahesh Bhupathi, who is now the captain of the side.
Paes and Bhupathi, who together ruled the ATP circuit in late 90s with their incredibly successful partnership, weaved the longest unbeaten winning streak of 24 matches.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)