Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi(Telugu) born June 7, 1974 in Chennai, India) is an Indian professional tennis player. He is among the best doubles tennis players in the world with 11 Grand Slam titles to his credit. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a Grand Slam tournament (with Rika Hiraki). . With his win of the Australian Open Mixed Doubles in 2006, he joined the elite group of eight tennis players who have achieved a Career Mixed Doubles Grand Slam. In 2001, he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest awards. Bhupathi is an alumnus of the University of Mississippi in the United States. He was married to model Shvetha Jaishankar, but the couple has now separated.

Career

Mahesh Bhupathi is best known as one of the top doubles players in the 90's and the 00's. In 1999, Bhupathi won three doubles titles with Leander Paes including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He and Leander became the first doubles team to reach finals of all four Grand Slam, the first time such a feat has been achieved in the Open era and the first time since 1952. On April 26 that year, they became the World No. 1 doubles team. Bhupathi also won the US Open mixed doubles with Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

In 2006, Bhupathi teamed with Martina Hingis in the Australian Open mixed doubles competition. Entering the tournament unseeded and as wildcards, the first-time pair defeated four seeded opponents along the way, while only dropping a single set throughout. Bhupathi and Hingis defeated the sixth-seeded team of Daniel Nestor and Elena Likhovtseva in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3 to capture the championship. It was the sixth mixed doubles Grand Slam for Bhupathi, and a first for Hingis. By winning Australian Open, Bhupathi completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.

In 2007, Bhupathi and Czech Radek Štěpánek reached the 2007 Australian Open men's doubles event's quarterfinals. He teamed with Štěpánek at the 2007 French Open to make the doubles semifinals, defeating dual-year defending champions Jonas Björkman and Max Mirnyi in the quarterfinals. The team lost to the eventual champions Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor. After Wimbledon Bhupathi teamed along with Pavel Vízner to win the 2007 Canada Masters defeating the top-ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan en route. After this victory, he won a tournament in New Haven with Nenad Zimonjić. At the 2007 U.S. Open, he and Zimonjić paired in doubles. After the U.S. Open, the team that beat Bhupathi and Štěpánek in the French Open semifinals, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, split. Bhupathi was to become the new partner of Mark Knowles while Zimonjić will partner Nestor, but back surgery means he is now expected to be out until the end of the year.

In 2009, Bhupathi and doubles partner Sania Mirza won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open, beating Nathalie Dechy (France) and Andy Ram (Israel) 6-3, 6-1 in the final in Melbourne. The ace Indian pair thus made up for the disappointment of last year's final when they were beaten by Tiantian Sun and Nenad Zimonjic. With this win, Bhupathi's count in mixed doubles Grand Slam titles swells to seven.

Grand Slam titles

Doubles

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
1999	French Open	Clay	Leander Paes	Goran Ivanišević Jeff Tarango	6–2, 7–5
1999	Wimbledon	Grass	Leander Paes	Paul Haarhuis Jared Palmer	6–7, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6
2001	French Open (2)	Clay	Leander Paes	Petr Pála Pavel Vízner	7–6, 6–3
2002	U.S. Open	Hard	Max Mirnyi	Jiří Novák Radek Štěpánek	6–3, 3–6, 6–4

Runner-ups (5)

Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
1999	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes	Jonas Björkman Patrick Rafter	3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 7–610, 4–6
1999	U.S. Open	Hard	Leander Paes	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	6–7, 4–6
2003	Wimbledon	Grass	Max Mirnyi	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	6–3, 3–6, 6–74, 3–6
2009	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Mark Knowles	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–2, 5–7, 0–6
2009	U.S. Open (2)	Hard	Mark Knowles	Lukáš Dlouhý Leander Paes	6–3, 3–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles: 10 (7-3)

By winning the 2006 Australian Open title, Bhupathi completed the mixed doubles Career Grand Slam. He became the eight male player in history to achieve this.

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1997	French Open	Clay	Rika Hiraki	Patrick Galbraith Lisa Raymond	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	1998	Wimbledon	Grass	Mirjana Lucic	Serena Williams Max Mirnyi	6-4, 6-4
Winner	1999	US Open	Hard	Ai Sugiyama	Donald Johnson Kimberly Po	6–4, 6–4
Winner	2002	Wimbledon	Grass	Elena Likhovtseva	Daniela Hantuchová Kevin Ullyett	6–2, 7–5
Runner-up	2003	French Open	Clay	Elena Likhovtseva	Lisa Raymond Mike Bryan	6–3, 6–4
Winner	2005	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Mary Pierce	Paul Hanley Tatiana Perebiynis	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2005	US Open (2)	Hard	Daniela Hantuchová	Katarina Srebotnik Nenad Zimonjić	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2006	Australian Open	Hard	Martina Hingis	Elena Likhovtseva Daniel Nestor	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	2008	Australian Open	Hard	Sania Mirza	Sun Tiantian Nenad Zimonjić	7–6(4), 6–4
Winner	2009	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Sania Mirza	Nathalie Dechy Andy Ram	6–3, 6–1

Finals (79)

Wins (45)

Legend (pre/post 2009) Grand Slam (4) Tennis Masters Cup / ATP World Tour Finals (0) ATP Masters Series / ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (12) ATP International Series Gold / ATP World Tour 500 Series (6) ATP International Series / ATP World Tour 250 Series (23)

Titles by Surface Hard (26) Clay (13) Grass (1) Carpet (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	April 14, 1997	Chennai, India	Hard	Leander Paes	Oleg Ogorodov Eyal Ran	7–6, 7–5
2.	May 5, 1997	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Leander Paes	Petr Luxa David Škoch	6–1, 6–1
3.	August 4, 1997	Montréal, Canada	Hard	Leander Paes	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	7–6, 6–3
4.	August 18, 1997	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Leander Paes	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	6–4, 6–7, 6–2
5.	October 6, 1997	Beijing, China	Hard (i)	Leander Paes	Jim Courier Alex O'Brien	7–5, 7–6
6.	October 13, 1997	Singapore	Carpet	Leander Paes	Rick Leach Jonathan Stark	6–4, 6–4
7.	January 12, 1998	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Leander Paes	Olivier Delaître Fabrice Santoro	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
8.	February 16, 1998	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Leander Paes	Donald Johnson Francisco Montana	6–2, 7–5
9.	April 13, 1998	Chennai, India	Hard	Leander Paes	Olivier Delaître Max Mirnyi	6–7, 6–3, 6–2
10.	May 18, 1998	Rome, Italy	Clay	Leander Paes	Ellis Ferreira Rick Leach	6–4, 4–6, 7–6
11.	October 12, 1998	Shanghai, China	Carpet	Leander Paes	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–4, 6–7, 7–6
12.	November 9, 1998	Paris, France	Carpet	Leander Paes	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	6–4, 6–2
13.	April 12, 1999	Chennai, India	Hard	Leander Paes	Wayne Black Neville Godwin	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
14.	June 7, 1999	French Open, Paris	Clay	Leander Paes	Goran Ivanišević Jeff Tarango	6–2, 7–5
15.	July 5, 1999	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Leander Paes	Paul Haarhuis Jared Palmer	6–7, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6
16.	May 29, 2000	St. Poelten, Austria	Clay	Andrew Kratzmann	Andrea Gaudenzi Diego Nargiso	7–6, 6–7, 6–4
17.	October 16, 2000	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Leander Paes	Michael Hill Jeff Tarango	6–4, 6–7, 6–3
18.	April 30, 2001	Atlanta, U.S.	Clay	Leander Paes	Rick Leach David Macpherson	6–3, 7–6
19.	May 7, 2001	Houston, U.S.	Clay	Leander Paes	Kevin Kim Jim Thomas	7–6, 6–2
20.	June 11, 2001	French Open, Paris	Clay	Leander Paes	Petr Pála Pavel Vízner	7–6, 6–3
21.	August 13, 2001	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Leander Paes	Martin Damm David Prinosil	7–6, 6–3
22.	January 7, 2002	Chennai, India	Hard	Leander Paes	Tomáš Cibulec Ota Fukarek	5–7, 6–2, 7–5
23.	May 6, 2002	Majorca, Spain	Clay	Leander Paes	Julian Knowle Michael Kohlmann	6–2, 6–4
24.	May 20, 2002	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Jan-Michael Gambill	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	6–2, 6–4
25.	August 26, 2002	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Mike Bryan	Petr Pála Pavel Vízner	6–3, 6–4
26.	September 9, 2002	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Max Mirnyi	Jiří Novák Radek Štěpánek	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
27.	April 14, 2003	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Max Mirnyi	Lucas Arnold Ker Mariano Hood	6–1, 6–2
28.	April 21, 2003	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Max Mirnyi	Michaël Llodra Fabrice Santoro	6–4, 3–6, 7–6
29.	August 11, 2003	Montréal, Canada	Hard	Max Mirnyi	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	6–3, 7–6
30.	October 6, 2003	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Max Mirnyi	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	6–3, 7–5
31.	October 20, 2003	Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Max Mirnyi	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	6–2, 2–6, 6–3
32.	January 19, 2004	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Fabrice Santoro	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	4–6, 7–5, 6–3
33.	March 8, 2004	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Fabrice Santoro	Jonas Björkman Leander Paes	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
34.	May 10, 2004	Rome, Italy	Clay	Max Mirnyi	Wayne Arthurs Paul Hanley	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
35.	July 12, 2004	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Jonas Björkman	Simon Aspelin Todd Perry	4–6, 7–6, 7–6
36.	August 2, 2004	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Leander Paes	Jonas Björkman Max Mirnyi	6–4, 6–2
37.	January 17, 2005	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Todd Woodbridge	Arnaud Clément Michaël Llodra	6–3, 6–3
38.	September 18, 2006	Beijing, China	Hard	Mario Ančić	Michael Berrer Kenneth Carlsen	6–4, 6–3
39.	October 2, 2006	Mumbai, India	Hard	Mario Ančić	Rohan Bopanna Mustafa Ghouse	6–4, 6–7, [10-8]
40.	August 12, 2007	Montréal, Canada	Hard	Pavel Vízner	Paul Hanley Kevin Ullyett	6–4, 6–4
41.	August 25, 2007	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Nenad Zimonjić	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–3, 6–3
42.	March 2, 2008	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Mark Knowles	Sanchai Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana	7–6, 6–2
43.	March 8, 2008	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Mark Knowles	Martin Damm Pavel Vízner	7–5, 7–6
44.	October 18, 2008	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet	Mark Knowles	Christopher Kas Philipp Kohlschreiber	6–3, 6–3
45.	August 16, 2009	Montréal, Canada	Hard	Mark Knowles	Max Mirnyi Andy Ram	6–4, 6–3

Runner-ups (34)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	July 28, 1997	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Rick Leach	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	7–6, 6–4
2.	November 23, 1997	Doubles Championships, Hartford	Carpet	Leander Paes	Rick Leach Jonathan Stark	6–3, 6–4, 7–6
3.	October 19, 1998	Singapore	Carpet	Leander Paes	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–2, 6–3
4.	November 2, 1998	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Hard (i)	Leander Paes	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	6–3, 3–6, 7–5
5.	February 1, 1999	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Leander Paes	Jonas Björkman Patrick Rafter	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–4
6	September 13, 1999	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Leander Paes	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	7–6, 6–4
7.	November 15, 1999	Doubles Championships, Hartford	Carpet	Leander Paes	Sébastien Lareau Alex O'Brien	6–3, 6–2, 6–2
8.	June 19, 2000	Halle, Germany	Grass	David Prinosil	Nicklas Kulti Mikael Tillström	7–6, 7–6
9.	December 17, 2000	Doubles Championships, Bangalore	Hard	Leander Paes	Donald Johnson Piet Norval	7–6, 6–3, 6–4
10.	August 20, 2001	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Sébastien Lareau	Mark Knowles Brian MacPhie	7–6, 5–7, 6–4
11.	October 8, 2001	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Jeff Tarango	Max Mirnyi Sandon Stolle	6–3, 6–0
12.	October 29, 2001	Basel, Switzerland	Carpet	Leander Paes	Ellis Ferreira Rick Leach	7–6, 6–4
13.	November 5, 2001	Paris, France	Carpet	Leander Paes	Ellis Ferreira Rick Leach	3–6, 6–4, 6–3
14.	June 17, 2002	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Max Mirnyi	Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett	7–5, 6–3
15.	August 12, 2002	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Max Mirnyi	James Blake Todd Martin	7–5, 6–3
16.	August 19, 2002	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Max Mirnyi	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	7–6, 6–7, 6–4
17.	October 21, 2002	Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Max Mirnyi	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	6–3, 7–5, 6–0
18.	January 13, 2003	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Joshua Eagle	Paul Hanley Nathan Healey	7–6, 6–4
19.	May 19, 2003	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Max Mirnyi	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	6–4, 7–6
20.	June 16, 2003	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Max Mirnyi	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	5–7, 6–4, 7–6
21.	July 7, 2003	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Max Mirnyi	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 6–3
22.	October 13, 2003	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Max Mirnyi	Yves Allegro Roger Federer	7–6, 7–5
23.	October 18, 2004	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Jonas Björkman	Igor Andreev Nikolay Davydenko	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
24.	January 10, 2005	Chennai, India	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Yen-Hsun Lu Rainer Schüttler	7–5, 4–6, 7–6
25.	March 5, 2007	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Radek Štěpánek	Fabrice Santoro Nenad Zimonjić	7–5, 6–7, [10-7]
26.	March 26, 2008	Miami, U.S.	Hard	Mark Knowles	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–2, 6–2
27.	April 27, 2008	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Mark Knowles	Rafael Nadal Tommy Robredo	6–3, 6–3
28.	June 15, 2008	s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Leander Paes	Mario Ančić Jürgen Melzer	7–6, 6–3
29.	August 23, 2008	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Mark Knowles	Marcelo Melo André Sá	7–5, 6–2
30.	October 6, 2008	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Mark Knowles	Max Mirnyi Andy Ram	6–1, 7–5
31.	October 13, 2008	Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Mark Knowles	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–4, 6–2
32.	January 31, 2009	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Mark Knowles	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	2–6, 7–5, 6–0
33.	April 26, 2009	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Mark Knowles	Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić	6–3, 7–6
34.	September 13, 2009	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Mark Knowles	Lukáš Dlouhý Leander Paes	3–6, 6–3, 6–2

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	Career SR
Grand Slams
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	1R	SF	F	A	1R	2R	1R	QF	QF	3R	QF	SF	F	0 / 12
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	2R	SF	W	2R	W	SF	QF	SF	1R	QF	SF	1R	3R	2 / 13
Wimbledon	A	A	A	LQ	LQ	1R	2R	W	3R	1R	QF	F	3R	2R	1R	A	1R	QF	1 / 12
U.S. Open	A	A	A	2R	LQ	SF	SF	F	1R	1R	W	QF	3R	3R	1R	2R	3R	F	1 / 14
Grand Slam SR	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 4	0 / 4	2 / 4	0 / 3	1 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	4 / 51
Year-End Championship
Tennis Masters Cup	A	A	A	A	A	F	RR	F	F	RR	NH	RR	RR	A	A	A	RR	SF	0 / 9
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held			2R	Not Held			2R	Not Held			SF	Not Held			QF	NH	0 / 4
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	A	1R	2R	2R	SF	1R	1R	1R	QF	2R	0 / 10
Miami Masters	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	2R	A	A	QF	1R	2R	QF	A	1R	F	1R	0 / 10
Monte Carlo Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	2R	A	SF	1R	W	QF	QF	SF	2R	F	QF	1 / 11
Rome Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	1R	1R	1R	QF	SF	W	SF	2R	1R	2R	SF	2 / 12
Madrid Masters	A	A	A	A	A	QF	F	A	2R	QF	F	W	SF	QF	1R	A	F	2R	1 / 11
Canada Masters	A	A	A	A	A	W	SF	A	QF	1R	2R	W	W	QF	A	W	QF	W	5 / 11
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	A	A	A	QF	1R	2R	1R	W	F	SF	QF	QF	2R	2R	SF	SF	1 / 13
Shanghai Masters	Not Masters Series																	SF	0 / 1
Paris Masters	A	A	A	A	A	1R	W	2R	1R	F	2R	A	SF	A	A	A	2R	2R	1 / 9
Hamburg Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	2R	2R	1R	W	F	2R	QF	1R	2R	2R	NMS	1 / 11
Masters Series SR	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	1 / 5	2 / 8	0 / 7	0 / 6	1 / 8	1 / 9	3 / 8	2 / 9	0 / 8	0 / 6	1 / 7	0 / 9	1 / 9	12 / 99
Tournament Wins	0	0	0	0	0	6	6	3	2	4	5	5	5	1	2	2	3	1	N/A
Year End Ranking	668	385	248	162	106	11	3	2	39	6	4	4	7	19	30	21	6		N/A

A = did not attend tournament.

NH = tournament not held.

LQ = lost in the qualifying draw.

NMS = not Masters Series

Davis Cup and Asian Games

Mahesh Bhupathi has donned Indian colors numerous times for the Davis Cup as well as other international fixtures including Asian Games.

Mahesh Bhupathi has played 46 matches for India in the Davis Cup (from 1995 to 2006), winning 28 and losing 18. Out of the 28 matches that he won, 20 of his victories came in doubles matches.

In 2006, Bhupathi won the doubles championship with Leander Paes at the Asian Games in Doha.

Relationship with Leander Paes

From the pinnacle of 1999 to the depths of 2006, the relationship between two top Indian players, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi has fluctuated, turning from great to bad to worse. The two forged a formidable partnership in the late 90s and steeply climbed the ladder of the doubles rankings. They played so well as a team such that it prompted the then top Australian doubles pair of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge (known as the Woodies) to predict that they expected Bhupathi and Paes to take their place in tennis doubles after they left the scene. Together with Paes, Bhupathi featured in several memorable grand slam matches, Olympic matches as well as Davis Cup matches for India. From such a high, the relationship between the pair gradually deteriorated and reached a point of no communication. The exact cause or causes for the rift has never been known so far though various factors like ego clashes, each player garnering more attention than the other have been rumoured over the years. Just after winning the 2006 Asian games, both of the players announced that they would never play again together. In spite of the cold relationship between them, they decided to play together in the Beijing 2008 Olympics for a possible medal chance in the doubles event. Bhupathi had initially shot a letter to the AITA stating that he did not want to play with Paes in the Olympic games preferring Bopanna instead as his partner.

Bhupathi had said, "Leander and I are best option for India but we need to go with some kind of preparation. We need to build a team. It's not about past performances. Rohan Bopanna and I are better prepared as a team", The AITA responded by saying that it would not change the doubles team pairing and that it was up to Paes and Bhupathi to ensure that the differences between them did not come in the way of national glory. (Reuters) However, Bhupathi and Paes decided to once again form a doubles pair, and entered the 2008 Ordina Open together to attain the second seed. They finished as Runners up in their comeback tournament. They partnered in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but lost in the quarter finals

to Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who went on to win the men's doubles gold medal .

Sports Management

Mahesh Bhupathi has also been involved in developing tennis facilities in India and along with his company Globosport he has played in a key role in developing and managing the careers of many Indian athletes including the new Indian tennis star, Sania Mirza.

Awards

• Padma Shri,2001
• Sports people for Change Karmaveer Puraskaar,07,iCONGO-Confederation of NGOs

References

External links

• Mahesh Bhupathi Fan Site
• Davis Cup Player page