"The ONLY way to win with a toxic person, is not to play," Sania tweeted without naming Paes
Dubai - Paes says few jealous players trying to ruin his reputation after Sania's tweet
Published: Mon 19 Sep 2016, 10:52 PM
Last updated: Tue 20 Sep 2016, 12:56 AM
After doubles legend Leander Paes questioned the selection of the Indian mixed doubles team for the Rio Games, Sania Mirza took to Twitter to show her anguish.
"The ONLY way to win with a toxic person, is not to play," Sania tweeted without naming Paes after the veteran star had said that the Indian tennis association made a mistake by not opting to play him with Sania in the mixed doubles in Rio.
Sania partnered Rohan Bopanna in the mixed doubles and the pair lost the bronze medal playoff at the Rio Games.
Interestingly, Paes has won four mixed doubles Grand Slam titles since the start of 2015. He won three Grand Slams in 2015 and the French Open title this year and yet the Indian tennis association opted to play Bopanna with Sania.
So, Paes was still unhappy that he missed out on a chance to win another Olympic medal for the country (he won a bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in singles). Paes, who has won 18 Grand Slam titles (eight doubles and 10 mixed doubles) - most by any Indian player - clearly believes India would have won a tennis medal in Rio if he was in the mixed doubles team.
"I can very clearly say that in this Olympics and the last Olympics we didn't put the best team forward. This Olympics the mixed doubles was a great opportunity. What more does a man need to do than win four Grand Slams in 14 months," Paes said referring to his extraordinary success in mixed doubles in Grand Slams.
After Sania's tweet, Bopanna also slammed the veteran star on Twitter without actually naming him.
"At it again!! ...the usual ploy to stay in the news by slanging fellow players in media. #Patriotism," Bopanna tweeted after retweeting Sania's tweet.
It now seems that Bopanna and Sania's response on Twitter has hurt Paes as he gave a very emotional statement to media on Monday.
"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 life times, they will still not be able to achieve that. Instead of working hard, they want to knock me down," Paes was quoted as saying by Indian news agency PTI on Monday.
"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," he added.
"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.
"But few people are always trying to tarnish my reputation," said the 43-year-old player.
There was tension between India's top tennis stars even at the 2012 London Games and it seems the wounds still haven't healed.
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