New Delhi: Eight Grand Slam titles — doubles and mixed doubles combined — adorn his cupboard but when Leander Paes looks back, he cannot help but wonder what if he had paid more attention to his singles career.

Leander was ranked 73 and had won an ATP title, besides winning bronze in the Atlanta Olympic Games in singles when he decided to focus solely on doubles, a move which paid yielded eight Grand Slam titles.

Though Leander does not rue the decision, he wonders how he would have fared in singles. “Sure, one wonders every now and then as to what would have happened if I continued to play singles. At 73 in the world, I could have concentrated on singles. In a way I would have loved to see how far I would have gone,” Leander told a news channel.

There, however, is not any element of regret.

“I would not take anything away from those years, even though in 1998 I gave up singles for doubles. I would never sit back and say ‘oh! I would not have wanted to win those Grand Slam events’.”

Leander also played down his stormy relationship with Mahesh Bhupathi. “Well, I am sure, of course we pose problems for ourselves in terms of having a go at each other. But that’s like a part of growing up. It’s a part of life,” he said. (PTI)