Continuing his impressive performance at the age of 46, seasoned player Leander Paes advanced to the semifinals of the ATP Hall of Fame Open alongside partner Marcus Daniell. The Indo-Kiwi duo, seeded third, secured a hard-fought victory against Matthew Ebden and Robert Lindstedt, overcoming them with a scoreline of 6-4, 5-7, 14-12 in the quarterfinals, even after saving three match points.

Making his debut at the Hall of Fame Open in 1995, Paes has now become the oldest ATP Tour semifinalist since John McEnroe at the 2006 San Jose event. Expressing his dedication to the sport, Paes remarked, “These are the nights that I live for. The hard work, playing when you have a fever, being in the gym when you don’t really want to be there.”

With a remarkable career that includes 18 Grand Slam titles, Paes emphasized that he still possesses the necessary skills and determination. Reflecting on his approach to the game, he mentioned, “It’s about finding the right doubles partners, and I’ll have success. Being a student of life and the game, I used to try to learn from the older players. Now, I try to learn from the younger ones.”

This marks the fourth time this season that Paes has reached the semifinals on the ATP World Tour, achieving the same stage in Lyon (May), Marrakech (April), and Montpellier (February) earlier in the year. Recognizing the impact of age on his training routine, Paes highlighted the importance of specific and focused training to improve specific aspects of his game, along with a careful emphasis on diet and recovery.

Currently holding the sixth position on the all-time doubles match winners’ list with 766 tour wins, Paes stands as one of six players to achieve 750 tour-level doubles match wins, a milestone reached in April 2018. Paes and Daniell are set to face Marcel Granollers and Sergiy Stakhovsky in the upcoming match.