Leander Paes cannot play tennis forever. Why will he not acknowledge this?

When it comes to talking about sportsmen pushing their limits, there’s no better example than Leander Paes. The 43-year-old's passion and intensity for tennis is unwavering, as is his unmatched, boundless energy, which seems to be unaffected by the passage of time.

Recent events, however, have presented a contrarian side to his ambitious limitlessness. A side that's raising questions, rather than conveying assurances, about his longevity.

Playing in the ATP Pune Challenger this week, Paes mentioned, “I am looking at a partner for next year. Twenty 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.”

Stuttering in 2016

In the parlance of the sport, some of what he said were winners. The rest were errors, those of the unforced kind. It is true no one men's doubles team dictated the season and that the much-feted Bryan Brothers lost their grasp over the mantle of the world's best doubles team.

None of these fluctuations, however helped Paes's season swing positively. Not in the ATP events, and most definitely not in the Slams.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion played with 11 different partners this season. Apart from reaching the finals in two ATP 250 events, in Winston-Salem and St Petersburg, with German Andre Begemann, he was unimpressive through the year. Barring a quarter-final finish at the French Open, partnering Marcin Matkowski of Poland, Paes failed to go beyond the second round in the remaining three Majors.

There's no questioning his fitness. He's also been playing injury-free. His results, though, demonstrate aspects that are impervious to his efforts to keep himself in shape.

Age will tell (there's no choice)

For all his tirelessness, age has started having its say in the modulations of Paes's career. He continues to prowl at the net, but his reflexes have slowed down. An unsuspecting player might be caught unawares, but for the more experienced pros on the men’s circuit, Paes has become the weak point that they can conveniently exploit. As was the case several times this year.

To have high aspirations for for 2017 at such a juncture, when not only his results but also his rankings have dipped, seems far-fetched. Why? First, given Paes's low ranking, he will not be seeded in the Slams. This in turn means facing better opponents in the earlier rounds. Second, he will be a year older, his physique, a year more fatigued.

Paes is compensating for all this with hope – maybe even outlandish hope. This exemplified by what he said after the Indian men’s doubles team were ousted in the first round at the Rio Games. Playing in a record seventh consecutive Olympics, Paes, who was visibly upset with the controversy that had marked the Indians’ participation in the tournament, declared, “If possible, I will be in Japan. Four years is a long time but I said that when I played my fourth Olympics.”

How long is too long?

It was surprising to hear that Paes is focussing on such longevity on the tennis court. His statement appeared to be a way to justify himself. And, with luck, blot out the ignominy of his contentious partnership with Rohan Bopanna.

What Paes has achieved as an Indian tennis player is almost unparalleled, even including the record of the formidable Vijay Amrithraj. He doesn't need to go to such absurd lengths to cement his place in history. As the country's sole male Olympic medal-holder in tennis and one of the only two male (with Mahesh Bhupathi) Grand Slam winners, Leander Paes is a living, playing, legacy.

Not that his career has to end immediately, or even soon. No one but Paes can take that call. Irrespective of bad results, Paes continues to be one with the court, and some moments give the impression of time having stopped. But those same moments also bring out the need for him to evaluate his professional timeline beyond numerical career objectives.

For, while both his body and mind are working in sync, resolving to go that extra mile in the future could end up forcing one to give up on the other. And that could mean, yes, a somewhat premature end to an incredible innings.