Terming India's Davis Cup win against New Zealand a team effort, captain Leander Paes on Tuesday said reaching the Australian Open mixed doubles final on return from a life-threatening brain lesion was pure "magic".
"Magic! it shows how much hard work and self-belief can achieve," Paes said after a triumphant return from New Zealand where India beat the hosts 3-2 last weekend to advance to the Asia-Oceania Group I second round.
"I worked hard to be fit for the Australian Open but to reach the mixed doubles final was not only a dream come true but magic," he told NDTV news channel in Mumbai.
Paes was struck by a parasitic brain infection last August which kept him out of action for five months.
But the multiple Grand Slam champion made a memorable comeback last month when he came close to defending his mixed doubles title with Martina Navratilova before losing in the final at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The Davis Cup star then reworked his magic once again to win all his three matches, including the doubles rubber with Mahesh Bhupathi, and give the team a narrow 3-2 win over the Kiwis.
Paes said the sledging incident he got involved in against New Zealand was only a tit for tat to what was initiated by the home team.
"If the opposition captain is going to have a go at one of my younger teammates, in this case 20-year-old Vishal Punna, then I am going to do whatever it takes to protect my boy," he said.
"We have to accept that sledging is common practice in that part of the world and we have to be ready for that," Paes said.
"I don't know about others but I will stand up to that sort of things and I think at the end of the day we played with pride, self-respect and dignity."
Paes said his sledging of New Zealand debutant Simon Rea had less to do with the pressures of a deciding match and the Kiwis' tactics backfired on them.
"Perhaps it was (because of playing the fifth and deciding match) but Vishal was very upset when they started making comments when he was playing.
"I tried to put my arm around his shoulders and comfort him. And then they did the same thing to me as well. But they chose the wrong guy.
"These things only motivate me to give my best."
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