Leander Paes broke the record for most doubles wins by a single player in the Davis Cup when India took on China in the Asia/Oceania Group I clash on Saturday.
With 43 wins, Paes moved past Italy's Nicola Pietrangeli, who had a win-loss record of 42-12 in Davis Cup doubles.
Here is a look at some memorable clashes from Paes' Davis Cup career.
India vs Japan, Chandigarh Stadium, March 30-April 1, 1990
Surface: Grass, outdoor
Match result: Paes/Ali def Ota/Matsuoka 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 18-16
Tie result: India def Japan 4-1 to enter Asia/Oceania Group I semifinal
Paes made his Davis Cup debut at the age of 16 against Japan in a tie which India won 4-1. Picked as the team's fourth player, Paes was chosen by captain Naresh Kumar to team up with Zeeshan Ali against Shigeru Ota and Shuzo Matsuoka in the doubles rubber.
Paes and Ali fought back from the loss of the first set to win the next two. However, the Japanese duo forced a deciding fifth set, which required a marathon 34 games to complete. The Indians won in five hours to seal the tie, having taken a 2-0 lead in the singles rubbers. The win remains the longest fifth set for India in the Davis Cup.
"It was a big thing for us, a big moment for Leander," Ali said, recalling the match in July last year ahead of India's Asia/Oceania Group I semifinal against South Korea in Chandigarh.
India vs France, Arenes de Frejus, Cannes, France, July 16-19, 1993
Surface: Clay, outdoor
Match results
First singles: Paes def Leconte 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles: Boetsch/Leconte def Paes/Krishnan 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4
First reverse singles: Paes def Boetsch 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
Tie result: India def France 3-2 to enter World Group semifinal
Paes almost single-handedly kept India alive against France in 1993, a tie which India had entered on the back of a 3-2 win over Switzerland.
India went down 0-1 after Ramesh Krishnan lost the opening singles rubber in straight sets. Paes, ranked 208 in singles at the time, took on 68th-ranked Henri Leconte in the second singles, taking a shock two-set lead against his older, more experienced opponent. Leconte fought back to win the third set but could not force a fifth, as Paes wrapped up the win in four, securing a 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
Paes and Krishnan lost in the doubles to Leconte and Arnaud Boetsch before Paes defeated Boetsch in straight sets to force a deciding rubber, which Krishnan won in five sets to secure India's semifinal berth.
India vs South Africa, Jai Club Tennis Complex, Jaipur, September 23-25, 1994
Surface: Grass, outdoor
Match results
First singles: Paes def Grant Stafford 6-4, 6-3, 5-2
Doubles: Ferreira/Pieter Norval def Paes/Gaurav Natekar 6-4, 6-4, 6-1
First reverse singles: Paes def Ferreira 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
Tie result: South Africa def India 3-2 to enter second round of World Group qualifying
India may have lost the tie against South Africa in 1994, but it was not for a lack of effort, as Paes picked up a famous win over Wayne Ferreira in the first reverse singles, one of several notable victories the Indian secured over higher-ranked opponents in the Davis Cup.
Ferreira was ranked 13th in the world in singles at the time and was in the midst of a career-best season in which he won five singles titles. Paes, on the other hand, was ranked 151 and was yet to reach a singles final. But none of that mattered on the day as Paes registered a comfortable straight-sets win to force a deciding rubber.
India vs Croatia, National S.C, New Delhi, September 22-24, 1995
Surface: Grass, outdoor
Match results
First singles: Paes def Sasa Hirszon 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles: Paes/Bhupathi def Hirszon/Ivanisevic 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
First reverse singles: Paes def Ivanisevic 6-7 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1
Tie result: India def Croatia 3-2 to enter second round of World Group qualifying
Paes was the star of India's victory against Croatia in 1995, featuring in all the three rubbers India won, including a five-set upset victory over Goran Ivanisevic. Paes defeated Sasa Hirszon in straight sets in the first singles to give India a 1-0 lead over the Croatians, who leveled the tie with Ivanisevic's win over Mahesh Bhupathi. Paes and Bhupathi then defeated Ivanisevic and Hirszon in four sets to win India the crucial doubles rubber and a 2-1 lead.
Paes, ranked 123rd in the world, took on Ivanisevic, then World No. 7, in the first of the reverse singles. Ivanisevic, runner-up at Wimbledon in 1992 and 1994, edged a tight first two sets. Paes wasn't done, however. He hung in the third set, winning it 7-3 in the tiebreak before winning the fourth set 6-4. The momentum had by then completely swung in favour of Paes, who won the fifth set comfortably to complete a 6-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory to seal the tie in India's favour.
Paes himself considers the win against France and over Ivanisevic among his most memorable. "The tie in Frejus against France will be one of the special ones. Also, beating Goran Ivanisevic in Delhi after he had done really well in Wimbledon and coming back from two sets to one down was great as well," Paes said in an interview in 2013 ahead of his 50th Davis Cup tie.
India vs Japan, Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, April 6-8, 2001
Surface: Hard court, indoor
Match results
First singles: Paes def Ishii 6-1, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles: Paes/Bhupathi def Shimada/Suzuki 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
First reverse singles: Paes def Suzuki 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4
Tie result: India def Japan 3-2 to enter World Group
Paes played an identical role in India's 3-2 win over Japan on the indoor hard courts of Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum to the one he had in the victory over Croatia in 1995.
Paes gave India the lead with a straight-sets win over Yaoki Ishii before Takao Suzuki defeated Mahesh Bhupathi to level the tie. Paes and Bhupathi then defeated Suzuki and Thomas Shimada in five sets for the all-important doubles win.
In the end, Paes got the better of Suzuki 6-7, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the first reverse singles to seal India's entry to the World Group.
India vs Serbia, KSLTA Tennis Stadium, Bengaluru, September 12-14, 2014
Surface: Hard court, outdoor
Match result: Paes/Bopanna def Zimnjic/Bozoljac 1-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3, 8-6
Tie result: Serbia def India 3-2 to re-enter World Group
India took on Serbia in a bid to re-enter the World Group and thanks to Paes and Rohan Bopanna's comeback win in the doubles, they looked on course to achieve that.
After Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman lost the opening singles rubbers to Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic respectively, Paes and Bopanna teamed up against Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic, the latter a three-time men's doubles Grand Slam champion and the winner of three mixed doubles Majors, including one just a few months earlier at Wimbledon.
Paes and Bopanna, playing together for only the third time, found themselves down by two sets and a break in the third set. However, the Indian pair dug out the set 6-3 before completing their comeback win 8-6 in the fifth.
India eventually lost the tie 3-2, but Paes later termed the doubles victory as one of the finest in his career.
"I believe that this match was the best doubles comeback in Davis Cup that I've ever played. I say that not just because we were two sets to love and a break down in the third, but because of the team we were playing. [Nenad] Zimonjic is in the top 2-3 in the world and [Ilija] Bozoljac is very unorthodox and very tough to read," Paes said after the match.
"It was an uphill task for Rohan and me because we have only played twice before together. Our partnership still needed camaraderie-building, so the chips were against us even though everyone was saying we were the favourites."