Mahesh Bhupathi on Wednesday gave the first signs of rapprochement with Leander Paes, saying their partnership gave India “the best chance” of winning a tennis medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Bhupathi refused to spell out in no uncertain words his thoughts on playing together with Paes at the sports’ biggest stage but said the reunion of the estranged former world number one tandem was a “logical choice”.
“Olympics is far, there is still a long way to go. Ideally, we should be playing together if India has to have a chance of winning a medal (in tennis) at the Olympics,” Bhupathi said at a press conference here.
‘Logical choice’
“That’s the logical choice. On today’s ranking, we would be seeded high. It would give us the best chance to win a medal.”
Bhupathi was evasive in his reply when asked if he had spoken to Paes on the subject. “It is still 15 months away from now,” he said.
Bhupathi had famously declared that he would never pair again with Paes after a bitter fall-out during the Doha Asian Games in December.
The war of words between the most successful pair in the history of Indian tennis came after Paes questioned Bhupathi’s fitness and commitment before the start of the competition.
The two went on to win the doubles gold but after the final Bhupathi vented his anger in full.

Heart-breaking
At the Athens Olym-pics in 2004, the combination fell agonisingly short of winning the bronze medal as they lost a four hour-plus play-off match to Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic.
Paes and Bhupathi were ranked number one in 1999 when they won at the French Open and Wimbledon and also reached the final of the Australian Open and the US Open.
They parted ways in 2000 but came together again in 2001 when they again triumphed at Roland Garros. But the patch-up lasted for a brief period before they split forever in 2002.
Bhupathi and Paes continued to come together for team events like the Davis Cup and the Asian Games until the December burst-up.
Meanwhile, Bhupathi said he saw no problems with Sania Mirza’s game even though she exited in the first round in two successive tournaments.
“She is coming back from an injury and it will take time for her to find the rhythm. When the grass court season starts, she should be back in form. She is playing well.”