A day after Mahesh Bhupathi indicated their possible re-union, tennis ace Leander Paes on Friday confirmed that he would pair up with his estranged doubles partner in January to play a few tournaments in the lead up to the 2004 Olympics Games in Athens.
"It can be in the Tata Open (in Chennai) or the World Doubles (in Doha)... but I am going to pair up with him (Bhupathi) in January. That's confirmed," Paes told newspersons at Kolkata.
The Kolkata ace, who has fully recovered from a brain lesion in August last, said they could also be seen in action in "a few other tournaments" to fine tune their court-combination before the Athens Olympics.
"It's not that we lack understanding. We have played together for about seven years... but we need to fine tune our game and get back to the winning habit together," he said.
Paes wanted to utilise the summer in US to improve his clay court game.
Paes' announcement comes a day after Bhupathi indicated that he was keen to partner Paes in the Tata Open to be played in Chennai from January 5-11.
With his eyes set on the Olympics, Paes said it would be a "very significant" assignment for him and he would look forward to bring laurels for the country along with Bhupathi in Athens.
The much-awaited re-union of Paes and Bhupathi, popularly called the 'Indian Express', was earlier delayed as the pair, scheduled to play at the Long Island ATP tournament in New York in August, pulled out after Paes' hospitalisation.
The pair had won three Grand Slam titles before their second separation last year.
Besides his plans for doubles, Paes said he was also keen to take part in singles matches but was "yet to decide when and where to play".
The 30-year-old tennis star, who took part in a doubles wicket cricket tourney at the CCFC Ground at Kolkata, said he was "fully fit" and raring to go after missing out tennis for about four months.
"I am completely fit and undertaking four hours of training daily. I am ready to make a comeback in the circuit," he said.
