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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Mahesh Bhupathi Makes History At U.S. Open
9/8/1999 | Men's Tennis
Sept. 8, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. -- Former Ole Miss tennis standout Mahesh Bhupathi teamed with doubles partner Leander Paes to advance to the U.S. Open Doubles Championship final Wednesday, and in the process made history. With their straight set win (6-4, 6-3) over Russian Andrei Olhovskiy and David Prinosil of Germany, Bhupathi and Paes became the first team to reach all four grand slam doubles' finals in a calendar year in the modern era.
Bhupathi and Paes, ranked No. 1 in the world and seeded No. 1 in the tournament, made it to the finals of the Australian Open and won both the French Open and Wimbledon. They will be going for three in a row Friday, against the 11th seeds, Alex O'Brien (USA) and Sebastien Lareau (Canada).
In this year's tournament, Bhupathi and Paes have dropped only one set on their way to the final. The pair defeated O'Brien and Lareau in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Bhupathi can win two grand slam titles Friday, as he also qualified for the Mixed Doubles final with Japan's Ai Sugiyama. The two defeated Alexandra Stevenson and Brian MacPhie of the United States, 6-4, 7-5. Bhupathi and Sugiyama will meet another pair of Americans, Kimberly Po and Donald Johnson, in the final.
At Ole Miss, Bhupathi lead the Rebels to the 1995 NCAA Team Championship final and became the first men's tennis player in the history of the program to win an NCAA title, claiming the 1995 Doubles Championship.