Circle of life playing out: Leander Paes on Indian tennis' decline

The legendary Leander Paes on Wednesday lamented the decline of Indian tennis, describing it as part of the "circle of life" while emphasising the need for patience.

The Indian team endured a 0-4 defeat against Sweden in its Davis Cup World Group I tie recently, which relegated them to the play-off stage for the upcoming year.

"Like anything in life, when you go up, you have to come down, and then you come back up again. I am a big believer in the circle of life," the former world No 1 in doubles said.

"I think we all need to have a little bit of patience as far as tennis goes. We have all enjoyed such an upswing over the last 40 years, proving that we can be number one in both women's doubles and men's doubles."

Currently, Sumit Nagal is the only Indian player in the top 100 of the ATP men's singles rankings, positioned at 83, while Ramkumar Ramanathan follows at 332.

At 44 years, Rohan Bopanna remains the flag-bearer of men's doubles in India, currently ranked sixth, with anothe