Brimming with confidence ahead of the Australian Open, Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi on Friday said winning the Grand Slam title along with Leander Paes in Melbourne would be a "romantic" feeling.
"It'll be romantic if we win the Australian Open. We have enough fight, enough chemistry and enough will to win. We'll give it everything we can," said Bhupathi, who reunited with Leander after a gap of eight years on the ATP tour with an eye to win the Australian Open, the only Grand Slam missing from their cabinet.
The Indian express reached the semifinal beating hard-serving German-British pair of Philip Marx and Ken Skupsky in the Chennai Open today.
Talking about their quarterfinals opponent during the post-match press conference, Bhupathi said, "They both had big serves, but we dealt with it and we're through and now we're cruising."
Paes said they have reached a stage in their career where they play tennis only for the love of the sport.
"At this age, we're playing for the love of the game, the passion for the game. That's the great thing about sport. It keeps life honest and so clear. We're going to be ready for the Australian Open," he said.
Talking about the three-day gap between the first round match on Monday last and today's tie, Paes said, "Generally, I prefer to keep up the momentum. But, if I had had my second round match on Tuesday, it meant that I must pack my baggages and leave as I had developed respiratory problems since Monday night. I did not practice at all during these rest days. In a way, the gap helped me."
Asked whether they would continue playing together on the Tour if they win the Australian Open, Paes said, "We're taking it a day at a time."
"The mistake we did the last time we played together was we didn't enjoy the process. (This time) We want to enjoy everything -- the good things, the not so good things. There is no point getting ahead of ourselves," he said.