By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A day after joining BJP, India’s tennis legend Leander Paes on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday.
“Had a great meeting with Shri Leander Paes Ji. India is very proud of his accomplishments in tennis. We discussed a wide range of issues. His passion towards sports and nation building is truly admirable,” Modi said after the meeting.
Paes is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-time and holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men’s doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. He holds a career Grand Slam in men’s doubles and mixed doubles making him one of only three men in the Open era to achieve this distinction and won the rare men’s/mixed double at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. Paes, together with Mahesh Bhupathi, were the first pair in Open era history to reach the men’s doubles finals of all 4 Grand Slams in the same calendar year (1999). He is currently the brand ambassador of GS Delhi Aces, a team owned by Guru Samruddhi House of Investments in the Tennis Premier League.
His mixed doubles Wimbledon title in 2015 made him the second man (after Rod Laver) to win Wimbledon titles in three different decades. He repeated the feat by winning a Roland Garros title in three different decades with his mixed doubles title in 2016.
Paes received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, India’s highest sporting honor, in 1996–97; the Arjuna Award in 1990; the Padma Shri award in 2001; and India’s third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan prize, in January 2014 for his outstanding contributions to tennis. He won a bronze medal for India in men’s singles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games making him the first Asian in Olympic history to win a tennis medal and the only Indian to date. He competed in consecutive Olympics from 1992 to 2016 making him the only tennis player to compete in seven Olympic Games. He is also the most decorated male tennis player in Asian Games history with 5 Gold and 3 Bronze medals. He was won medals in every category (singles, doubles, mixed doubles and team event) and is the highest Indian gold medal-winning athlete across all sports in Asian Games history.