Mumbai: After winning the US Open men's doubles title this year, Indian tennis veteran Leander Paes on Sunday said he is trying to remain injury-free and working on his serve for the next season.
"I have been working really hard on my rotator cuff. In 2014, I want my serve to get a little better. To get my serve a little better would mean that I need to get a little more range of movement on my backward motion," Paes told reporters here.
"Hence, the flexibility has to be better, which gives me not only power but more variables, more range of direction. That is what I am working on this year," he said. The 40-year-old said he is focusing on his fitness and trying to take it to the next level.
"For me, Rio 2016 is definitely a very real target. In the new year, I am mostly focusing on trying to stay injury free. Take my fitness levels to another height. I feel at 40 to keep pushing the bar, to keep trying to get better and to continue being a student of my profession motivates me a lot," he said.
"Watching Andy Murray train off the court, what he does for fitness. How Ivan Lendl and how his fitness team has worked to get Murray to get so much stronger, that is something I try and learn from.
"To watch someone like a (Novak) Djokovic, who to me is just a genius in the way he prepares himself for tournaments, those are the people I like to learn from," he said.
Paes, who won his eighth men's double Grand Slam title at the US Open with Radek Stepanek, said he will continue to partner the Czech player in 2014.
"I am going to be partnering Radek Stepanek for the whole season of 2014. We had a tough 2013 but we made it successful right at the end with the last grand slam," he said.
"It is actually quite unique because in 2014, the way the rankings work, I have not many points to defend. I have got points to defend in only two tournaments -- Wimbledon and the US Open -- rest of the year I can have fun," he joked.
The oldest player to win a Grand Slam said he is focusing on only major events like the four Grand Slams and Olympics.
"At this stage of my career, I am only preparing for Grand Slams. I am only focusing on grand slams, the Olympics or events like that. 2013 was a very hard year for me. For six months of 2013, I barely won any matches," he said.
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