London: Indian star Mahesh Bhupathi lifted the Wimbledon mixed doubles crown with Russian Elena Likhovtseva and said that he was playing some of the best tennis of his career since splitting with long-time men's doubles partner Leander Paes.

Third seeds Bhupathi and Likhovtseva claimed the last title of the two-week tournament on Sunday beating Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett and Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, the fourth seeds 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.

"All four of us wanted to finish so we would have stayed their all night," smiled Bhupathi who also played the semi-finals earlier in the day before taking to centre court for the final.

It was the sixth Grand Slam title for the 28-year-old from Chennai and his third in mixed doubles, but first with the Russian.

"This is the third Grand Slam that we've played together. We knew we would eventually break the barrier and it's great that we did it at a big tournament like Wimbledon," said the Indian.

And Bhupathi said that he had no plans to get back with Paes in the immediate future, and would be continuing doubles with Belarus partner Max Mirnyi with whom he reached the quarter-finals here.

Paes and Bhupathi, whose 24 doubles titles also include the 1999 Wimbledon crown, split up for the second time in three years earlier this year as their form began to dip.

Paes and Bhupathi reformed briefly to win the Mallorca title in April before separating again to honour commitments to other players.

Paes was knocked out in the first round of the Wimbledon doubles with Australian Stephen Huss, and went out in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles with American Lisa Raymond.

"I was looking for a break. I found we were falling into a rut," admitted Bhupathi. "We haven't talked about it. I'm not going to say we're never going to play again.

"But I've been playing the best tennis of my career since we split. It's like Todd Woodbridge. If things work out we can play again. I wouldn't say no.

"Right now I'm enjoying playing with Max. We've played five tournaments and we've played well in the five events. Why rock the boat," asked the Indian.

Sunday’s win was the first mixed doubles Grand Slam title for Bhupathi since the 1999 US Open title with Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

"It's been a while since I won mixed so it's nice. I wanted to win another title, but with mixed doubles you can't have a strategy, you just have to go out and have fun.

"Elena had a lot of confidence for the great week she had so it worked out," he added.

Agencies