Leander Paes rules out retirement: I still love my tennis

Paes and his new partner Andre Sa began the new year with a defeat against Purav Raja and Divij Sharan in the first round of the Chennai Open. Paes, however, said, “I hope to be back and I hope to be holding this trophy again,” reported PTI.

Recent reports suggested that Leander Paes is edging towards retirement from professional tennis, however, the 18-time Grand Slam title winner has revealed that those reports are the result of a misunderstanding on the part of the reporters.

“I will keep playing hard and keep playing strong. I think there was a bit of misunderstanding the other day when Somdev pronounced retirement. Someone asked me a question and I said, it could be today, tomorrow or six months or somewhere down the track and all of a sudden it became like if Leander is retiring,” Paes said.

The Kolkata-born tennis star has reiterated that he retains his passion for the game. He said, “Things were put of context but that’s fine. I still love my tennis, I am really passionate about it.”