Mahesh Bhupathi at a city hotel on Friday. (PTI)

Calcutta: From a shy, introverted teenager to a suave and confident young man, Mahesh Bhupathi has indeed come a long way.

It’s been a fascinating journey for the Muscat-born Bangalorean, who made his Davis Cup debut a decade ago. Chaperoned into the competitive world of ATP Tour doubles by the already established Leander Paes, the two forged a winning combination and went on to scale the peak during a record-breaking 1999 season.

But, like most good things in life, their all-conquering partnership didn’t last. The junior partner, keen to carve a niche for himself, chose to part ways with his one-time mentor-cum-bosom pal. A fortnight shy of his 30th birthday, Bhupathi can surely claim to have succeeded in establishing an identity of his own.

The first Indian to win a Grand Slam crown, first from the country to be ranked world No. 1 in tennis, Bhupathi has already ensured a place in doubles’ Hall of Fame. And now, as MD of Globosport, Bhupathi is showing off a new facet to his personality: that of a globe-trotting executive promoting international events as well as marketing and managing careers of a select group of sportspersons with the talent to reach the top.

On a three-day visit to the state to launch Jaidip Mukerjea’s academy in Siliguri and meet VIPs and corporate bigwigs in Calcutta, Bhupathi spoke on issues ranging from Ramanathan Krishnan’s “unfair” comment to Leander Paes’ captaincy while interacting with the media and The Telegraph on Friday morning.

Following are excerpts

Q The Olympics are less than three months away and a lot of people are talking about the prospects of Paes-Bhupathi winning a medal.

A To be honest, the focus right now is on the Grand Slams. I am leaving for Paris on Saturday confident of getting match-fit for the French and then there’s Wimbledon. But, yes, Athens is surely at the back of my mind. Leander and I are aware of people’s expectations… All I can say at this juncture is that we are among five top contenders at the Olympics.

Ramanathan Krishnan is not too hopeful of you guys winning a medal…

I respect the man and his tennis, but it’s very unfair of him to be sitting at home and ruling out our chances… I think it’s time he wakes up and smells the coffee. He obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Both Leander and I believe we have a chance, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

Realistically speaking, do you see yourself as serious gold-contenders?

Coming from a country that is known for its Olympic failures, the first priority would be to ensure a medal. For that, we’ve got to reach at least the semi-finals. If we can get the first two matches out of the way, everyone knows we can be dangerous. Having said that, there will be some very tough teams out there who can make life difficult for us.

Like the Bryan twins?

Bob and Mark have had two wonderful seasons. But I don’t think they are as big a hurdle as the Woodies. I have never lost to them, even Leander has a very good record against the Americans. I would say Frenchmen (Fabrice) Santoro and (Mikael) Llodra would be hard nuts to crack. Then there are Zimbabweans Kevin Ullyett and Wayne Black.

What about Roger Federer and Yves Allegro?

Yes, of course, can’t ignore them. If Federer’s on song, he is the best doubles player in the world… he doesn’t need a partner, he alone is enough for any team. And Allegro is a decent player too.

Months and years after your split with Paes, people haven’t stopped talking about it. Does it bother you?

As far as I’m concerned, it’s history. We Indians are a very emotional lot, that’s why this question crops up time and again. People don’t realise what goes on behind the scenes… Our relationship has, in fact, got better over the past one year and that augurs well for the Olympics.

How do you assess Leander the captain?

He’s been doing a fine job compared to Ramesh (Krishnan) who wasn’t a good communicator. He’s making sure everyone eats together, that wasn’t the case before. Everyone’s happy.

Isn’t there too much pressure on a playing captain?

Yes, there is. It’s not fair to make someone play three matches and expect him to win all three, as well as do captaincy duties. He was definitely going to be the captain, he could have been given that job when his playing days were over, or if he was playing just doubles. In trying to do too much, I hope he doesn’t lose the winning edge.

Don’t you think the fact that Chandrababu Naidu got wiped away from Andhra Pradesh will affect sport in Hyderabad?

The momentum which sport had gathered in that state may get slowed down. But I don’t think tennis will be affected much. Specifically speaking, the WTA Open we run will surely continue, Sania (Mirza) I’m sure will continue to get all the support she has been getting since winning the Wimbledon junior girls doubles title.

You’ve shown keen interest in Jaidip’s academies in Calcutta and now Siliguri. Any plans of taking up coaching as a full-time profession in the near future?

It’s good that people with Sir Jaidip’s experience are getting involved with such projects. Tennis is very popular in the metros, we need to spread it to smaller towns like Siliguri. Personally, I don’t see myself coaching eight hours a day to earn a living. But I’m thinking of visiting these academies maybe twice a year and helping out the kids in whatever way I can. We are also trying to set up some arrangement with my coach Mose (Navarra) who can come over six times in the year to guide the trainees.