I'm here to support Bhupathi: Paes

Leander Paes on Monday said he made the "long trek" from the US to Mumbai to compete in the Kingfisher Airlines Open tennis tournament out of "respect" to tournament promoter and his former partner Mahesh Bhupathi.

"As far as I am concerned, I will always respect Mahesh as a fellow athlete and as a businessman," Paes told reporters on his arrival from New York where he played in the US Open Grand Slam a week ago.

"Coming here to support him in this event is something that was very important to me even though I have just finished with the US Open.

"It is a long trek coming from New York to Mumbai. It is great to be back home, it is great to play in my back yard."

Paes won the doubles title for the first time at the US Open, the year's final Grand Slam, with Martin Damm of Czech Republic earlier this month.

It was his first Slam in doubles after parting ways with Bhupathi in 2002.

The career graphs of Paes and Bhupathi had run close with both going neck and neck in terms of titles won.

Bhupathi won the US Open the same year he split with Paes while it had taken four years to achieve the feat. The rivalry seemed to extend off the court too when Bhupathi's name did not feature in the draws of the Chennai Open, an event managed by IMG, earlier this year.

In the circumstances, Indian tennis fans would welcome with double cheer Paes' taking the courts at the USD 380,000 event, run by Bhupathi's Globosport, that started in Mumbai on Monday.

Paes will be partnered by Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi since Damm's Davis Cup commitments made it difficult for him to be here on time.

The Indian Davis Cup captain said he might not be at his best for the Mumbai event which has come close on the heels of the US Open.

"There hasn't been a whole lot of practice and preparation for it, especially with Martin [Damm] not being here," Paes said.

"I will definitely put my best foot forward, but yes, this is my way of respecting Mahesh for holding the event in India."

On playing mixed doubles with Sania Mirza at the Doha Asian Games in December, he said, "Sania and myself have a history in our partnership. We got a bronze medal at the Busan Games [in 2002]."