Leander Paes :  My benchmark is to get 20 Grand Slams

"I have hit all my targets in a tough year. It's been a rough one. To be able to hit my targets, I am very happy. Now, I will take a couple of weeks off and spend time with my daughter and dad. My benchmark is to get 20 Grand Slams. Once you keep hitting your goals, there is not much to play for. You add something," Leander Paes told PTI on Wednesday, after winning his first round match in Pune Challenger alongside Ramkumar Ramanathan.

"I am looking at a partner for next year. 20 looks like a nice number. A lot of jumbling has happened this year, if you look at teams, not one team has dominated. There was a lot of mix-up," he said.

"I am hungry, passionate about tennis. It's first time I am playing here. Speed of the court is fantastic. Wherever I am playing and I am looking to entertain people and help out youngsters. I am looking to spread how tennis can be a great profession. To create passion for tennis, and if we can do that a bigger group may be playing tennis in four years, maybe in 10 years from now someone can be winning an Olympic medal (for India),” he said.

While saying that it has become 'tricky' while choosing a partner, he wished to continue his association with Ramkumar Ramanathan.

"For me, Ram was an obvious choice as I liked his game style. And it's not only that he follows whatever I ask him to do. There are situations and were even in this game where he asked me to follow a specific style and routine. That's the combination that kept us going," he added.