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Indian tennis has over the last decade been primarily all about two men. A lady joined them midway through the decade and, ever since, has pretty much replaced the two as the face of Indian tennis. This year, though, has been one of renaissance. The two old men have restored their position as the definition of Indian tennis & two more young tyros threaten to do all they can to unseat them. The woman meanwhile started off well but then for the rest of the year only grabbed the headlines for reasons other than what she produced on the court.

Overall though it was a commendable year for India on the tennis circuit. Three doubles slams, a junior singles slam, an ATP tour event final appearance and numerous app earances at the business end of slam tournaments ensured the tricolour was flying high and proud.

It all started in January with a name that most would not have heard of before - Somdev Devvarman. Playing in front of an understandably partisan home crowd in Chennai, Somdev played out of his skin to reach his first ever ATP Tour event final. His scalps along the way were notable - Carlos Moya, French Open winner & a former world no.1 and Ivo Karlovic, the giant Croat who possesses a serve arguably even more potent than the great Goran. It finally took another Croat, Marin Cilic, to stop the Assam lad but it was a tough fight right through. It was a wonderful beginning for Indian tennis and more good news was to follow.

The first slam of the year in Melbourne, Australia saw India's strongest showing at a grand slam yet. Mahesh Bhupathi was the hero here, going all the way to the final in the men's doubles & winning the mixed doubles with Sania Mirza. It was the first ever Slam triumph for the Hyderabad lass but sadly was to be her last real hurrah at the slams for the year. Leander Paes also reached the semis in the men's doubles to buttress the strong showing.

I have, however saved the best bit for last - Yuki Bhambri. In what will hopefully be a presaging result, the Indian youngster stunned us all by capturing the Boys Junior Singles title - the first time that an Indian has captured a junior slam since Leander Paes many moons ago at Wimbledon & Flushing Meadows. This is a huge result for Indian tennis and one that will hopefully catapult the Delhi boy to even greater heights. For now the signs are good - Yuki later won an ITF Futures Event in New Delhi, making him the youngest Indian to do so. Later on, Yuki made his Davis cup debut against South Africa in the World group play-offs and won his match against the much higher ranked Izak Van der Merwe.

The next major stop on the tennis circuit came at the French Open where Sania Mirza & Mahesh Bhupathi both failed to shine in any of their events. As if to make up for this, Leander Paes did the trick by winning the men's doubles partnering young Czech, Lukas Dlouhy. For the Indo-Czech pair it was an excellent result, the first for Dlouhy & the completion a hat-trick for the Indian champ at Roland Garros.

The hallowed turf of Wimbledon proved to not be an overly memorable one from a national perspective. The highly unpredictable Sania Mirza's struggles continued with a second round loss to talented Romanian Sorana Cirstea. The reliable Mahesh Bhupathi had a good run in the men's doubles event till he was stopped in the quarterfinals. Leander Paes nearly provided the silver lining reaching the mixed finals with Cara Black but their unfortunate faltering at the final hurdle brought to a close the Indian participation.

Things were to get better for the Indian contingent though. The noise, chaos & general air of festivity at Flushing Meadows probably provided some semblance of home for the Indian contingent. And it spurred them on in style. Looking to end the year in the manner he kicked it off, Somdev qualified for the main draw becoming the first since Prakash Amritraj, son of legendary Vijay Amritraj, in 2002. He celebrated it by beating Portugese Federico Gil in the first round in straight sets before bowing out to Novak Djokovic's French Open conqueror, Philip Kohlschreiber. This run was on the back of some excellent hard court form which included beating Marin Cilic in Washington. Sania Mirza matched Somdev's result but the rout she suffered at the hands of Flavia Pannetta (6-0, 6-0) put a dampener on her showing.

The doubles results were once again phenomenal as the Indians clashed in the Men's Doubles Final. On this day though it was Leander who would emerge victorious sealing a second slam win for the year & his second US Open doubles crown. It was especially sweet since Paes had looked lacklustre the previous day in the mixed doubles final. Bhupathi extended his solid run through the year as he reached the semi finals of the World Tour Finals in London. This brought to a conclusion a year of much cheer for India but one which leaves us looking for more.

So at the end of all of this who of the bunch is India's player of the Year? The prime nominees have to be Leander Paes & Somdev Devvarman. Somdev for his breakthrough year - A year in which he made it to the main draw of a slam, reached an ATP tour event final and gathered several notable scalps along the way. Leander Paes, though, was a notch above the rest. Two doubles slam & two finals in the mixed doubles highlighted the year. The man is 36 but still shows the spark, energy & enthusiasm of a player half his age. In a prior article I had titled him as "The quickest hands at the net" and, on the basis of what we saw from him this year, it holds strong and true.

Leander Paes for the last two decades has been the saviour of Indian tennis. His Davis Cup heroics, his singles performances early in his career and his doubles supremacy later have made him a tennis legend. It is only appropriate that much like Ryan Giggs who late in his career finally was awarded the PFA Player of the Year, my vote for Indian Player of the Year goes unequivocally to Leander Paes.

File Photograph Copyright: James Marvin Phelps (Paes)