Rohan Bopanna or Leander Paes: Who has made Indian tennis prouder on the World stage?

Two Indian greats, two different legacies. Leander Paes built India’s tennis mountain with Olympic medals, Davis Cup dominance, and a haul of Slams that spanned two decades. Rohan Bopanna climbed that mountain again in his forties, rewrote age records, and brought a men’s doubles Slam back to India in 2024. This is the fair way to weigh them.

What Paes did

Paes is, by volume and variety, India’s most decorated tennis player. He won 18 Grand Slam titles and completed the career Slam in both men’s doubles and mixed, an elite and rare double.

The singular national-pride moment: 1996 Atlanta Olympic bronze in singles, India’s first tennis medal, and the country’s first individual Olympic medal since 1952. That result mainstreamed Indian tennis for a generation.

Then there is the Davis Cup. Paes owns the world record for most Davis Cup doubles wins and also leads India in total Cup wins and ties played, an outsized contribution to the tri-colour in team tennis.

When it comes to longevity and recognition, in 2024, Paes was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the first Asian Man to receive the honour. That is legacy elevated from national to global stature.

What Bopanna did

Rohan Bopanna’s peak was a late-career surge that resonated far beyond tennis. In January 2024, he and Matt Ebden won the Australian Open men’s doubles, making Bopanna the oldest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam. In the same tournament week, he became the oldest first-time World No.1 in doubles.

He didn’t merely nick one big fortnight. He stacked high-value doubles hardware: six Masters 1000 titles in his career, and in 2023, he became the oldest Masters 1000 champion at Indian Wells, a landmark of belief and longevity in Indian sport.

Adding to the breadth, 26 ATP doubles titles overall, the 2017 French Open mixed doubles crown, multiple Slam finals, and a No.1 ranking that inspired athletes across disciplines to rethink age and performance curves.

Today, Bopanna called time on a 22-year career, retiring as the oldest Slam champion and oldest doubles No.1 in history, a finish that underscores the uniqueness of his arc.

Conclusion

If you weigh global accolades and breadth of honors, then the answer is Leander Paes. The Olympic bronze, the 18 Slams, the David Cup world record, and the Hall of Fame induction combine into a career that permanently raised Indian tennis’s ceiling. That is a deeper, wider imprint on national pride by traditional measures.

But Bopanna’s case is era-specific and powerful: he returned India to men’s doubles Slam glory and, at 43, smashed age barriers with No.1 and AO 2024, achievements that trended globally and modelled elite professionalism for Indian athletes across sports. In the modern inspiration lens, Bopanna edged the emotional vote.

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