Leander Paes, the 46-year-old Indian who has amassed 767 tour-level doubles wins and 54 tour-level doubles titles during his illustrious career, announced Wednesday that 2020 will be his final season.

“I am looking forward to the 2020 tennis calendar where I will be playing a few select tournaments, travelling with my team and celebrating with all my friends and fans around the world. It is all of you who have inspired me to become me and I want to take this year to say ‘Thank you’ to you,” Paes wrote on social media. “2020 is going to be an emotional one and I look forward to seeing all of you out there roaring with me.” 

#OneLastRoar pic.twitter.com/WwALCVF5LO

— Leander Paes (@Leander) December 25, 2019

Paes won his first ATP Tour doubles title at 1997 Chennai, nearly 23 years ago, before the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov and Alex de Minaur were born. He lifted at least one tour-level trophy every year from 1997-2015, with his most recent triumph coming at 2015 Auckland. Paes, who first reached No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings in 1999, won the bronze medal in singles at the 1996 Olympics and captured his lone ATP Tour singles title at 1998 Newport.

“I’m playing for a lot of passion now. I really love my life and travelling the world,” Paes told ATPTour.com in July. “When I was younger, I was playing to put bread and butter on the table. I still am, but now I’m playing because I get a lot of happiness out of playing tennis.

“Every morning, I put on [tennis clothes] and have fun… [tennis is] a beautiful sport to bring happiness to a lot of people.”

Did You Know?
Paes has won eight men’s doubles and 10 mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.

Veteran Nicolas Mahut will play on a stacked French team at the inaugural ATP Cup, to be held 3-12 January. Mahut, along with countrymen Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon, Benoit Paire and occasional doubles partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, will look to outplay Serbia, South Africa and Chile in Group A in Brisbane.

Mahut talked with ATPTour.com about his French pride and his hopes for next month’s ATP Cup.

Which French players did you watch growing up as a kid and what did you like about them?
I started to watch tennis and really became a tennis player when I watched the Davis Cup final in 1991 with Guy Forget and Henri Leconte. They were my heroes at the time.

If you could take one stroke from any of your ATP Cup teammates and add it to your game, what would you take?
I would say Benoit Paire’s backhand. He can hit winners from everywhere. I would take Gael Monfils’ athleticism. He is the best athlete on Tour for me, one of the best. I would [also] take his serve.

If you were to have a team dinner, which player would most likely be late?
Definitely Gael. Or it would be a contest between Gael and Benoit, but I would say Gael.

What is your favourite thing about Australia?
The people. I love Australian people… It is funny because when you arrive from Europe and you arrive at the security, you know you are in Australia already. The weather, of course, but if I had to pick one I would say the people.

What are the things you love most about France?
Wine, food and I think in France you can stay in every part. You have mountains, you have sea and you have big cities. Paris, of course.

What are your memories of playing in teams, and what do you like about being part of a team?
I played in all the teams since I was 14 in France. I played under-14, under-16 and under-18. To me, French teams are really important. When you play tennis you are mostly alone on the court or sharing good or bad moments with your coach. For once a year, you are with your teammates wanting to achieve the same goal. It is what I like in team sports.

What are you most looking forward to about the ATP Cup?
It is a brand-new competition. I am really excited that we are going to have a new captain that will be Gilles Simon. I am really excited to be on the court, with him on the bench. That will be a really good experience. We will start in Brisbane and hopefully finish in Sydney. I want to see how this works. I am really excited about this competition.

Do you like hearing from a captain who can give you tips on the court during a match?
I like being on court with a captain, especially Gilles, who is a good friend of mine. Tactically, he is really strong. He can see quick on the court and I really look forward to it.

Can you sing 100 per cent of your national anthem?
Of course. When you grow up in France, this is something you learn at the beginning at school. Every French [person] knows the national anthem.

South Africa’s Raven Klaasen is 37 but he’s hardly slowing down. The veteran right-hander reached a career-high No. 7 in the ATP Doubles Rankings in 2019 and, along with partner Michael Venus of New Zealand, made the doubles title match of the Nitto ATP Finals.

Ahead of the ATP Cup, to be held 3-12 January, Klaasen talked with ATPTour.com about which South African’s serve he’d like the most, his three favourite things about his country and what he’s most looking forward to about the inaugural ATP Cup.

Which countrymen did you watch, on the television or in person, as a kid growing up?
I just missed the back end of Kevin Curren’s career. I heard about him a lot but I started watching when Wayne Ferreira was starting to play good tennis, so I caught most of his career. He was probably the South African that I watched play tennis the most and [he was] a big inspiration for me.

If you could take one shot from one of your ATP Cup teammates and add it to your game, what would it be?
Kevin Anderson’s serve. Give me that. I would take that in a heartbeat. I think if you can start points like he does, it would make my job a little easier.

Who is the funniest player in the team and why?
That is a good question. I think we all think we are pretty funny in our own right, but right now I am going to go with myself. I am going to be confident there.

What are the three things you love most about your country?
I think South Africa is a beautiful place to live. I have grown up there and not ever wanted to leave. The scenery is the first thing, the second thing is the weather — we get spectacular weather — and right now, in the past year or two, the wine country has started to be a big one for me. The weather, beaches, scenery and people are fantastic.

What percentage of your national anthem can you sing?
I can sing the whole thing, but I probably understand about 60 per cent. I know what to say and I understand the meanings, but two of the languages I don’t speak.

Name three Australian animals.
Wallaby, I want to say kangaroo and what is it, a dingo? Dingo, yeah.

Talk about the team sports you played growing up. What did it mean to be playing as part of a team?
I played quite a bit of rugby growing up. My dad was a good rugby player and I played until I was about 14 or 15 years old. I think that team aspect is really spectacular when you are going out there and have more motivation than just the self satisfaction to put a result together. Looking back and seeing how happy people get when you are doing well and how nice it is supporting other guys is really a fun part of team sports.

Who would be most likely to turn up late to an ATP Cup team dinner?
Can I pass on this one, because I might have to say myself!

What do you enjoy most about Australia?
It is such a similar culture to South Africa. We have similar things that we enjoy, we are big sporting nations and [share the] Southern Hemisphere weather. Coming back at the beginning of every year is exciting to me and I look forward to going back there for many more years.

What are your earliest memories of playing tennis in South Africa?
The earliest vivid memories would probably be at 10 to 11, but I have got some vague memories of being next to the court [at a younger age]. Both my parents played league matches and they were pretty competitive tennis players themselves, so they had me next to the court — my mum says — when I was an infant. I don’t have great memories of that but I do remember some early days when we were young kids hanging out at the court, not even playing, just being around tennis. That is probably where the love of the game started.

Who on the team would be the best to dress up as the team mascot?
I’d say Lloyd Harris is probably the one to go to there. He is a pretty confident individual and I think he’d pull that off pretty good.

What would be a signature comment from your home country?
It is also a greeting, but we say ‘Howzit boet?’. That is just ‘How are you doing?’. ‘Boet’ means brother as a loose translation.

What are you most looking forward to about ATP Cup?
It is part of history. To get the opportunity to play this tournament, that is going to be massive for us. It is something that I look forward to and something that I will cherish when I look back one day. I have got a little guy now and to pass that story on to him will be a lot of fun. Having the South African boys on the team and hopefully giving some struggles to the other teams out there, that would be a lot of fun to me. I look forward to that event a big deal.