<p>This has probably been the most sensational divorce case to rock India in recent times. <em>Society </em>takes you through the ongoing battle between tennis star Leander Paes and former model and&nbsp;lifestyle coach Rhea Pillai, as we dissect the sensational details of their case piece by piece.</p>

- Payal Mehta

Leander Paes and Rhea Pillai have been washing their dirty linen in public for a while now. Well, unintentionally, for the going-public part, we assume. While Leander maybe a pro in the tennis court, Rhea is no less of a player, and is literally giving him a run for his money in family court.

Let’s go back to the beginning, shall we? The two secretly started dating in 2003 when Rhea was still married to Sanjay Dutt, although separated, and Leander was still in a serious relationship with Mahima Chaudhary. They met on an airplane en route Goa where Rhea invited Leander to one of her Art of Living shows in Mumbai. He accepted and they developed a strong bond. Poor Mahima found out the truth the hard way when she was mistaken as Leander’s ‘partner’ Rhea and was invited to accompany Leander at the Wimbledon. The final straw for her was when she got to know that Leander and Rhea were staying in the same hotel during his Wimbledon tour and subsequently caught him talking to Rhea on the phone. Soon after, she called it quits with him.

Considering Rhea was married twice in the past and Paes’ philandering ways, no one ever expected them to last. However, the couple proved the sceptics wrong, and went on to have a full-fledged relationship, even moving in with each other and having a daughter, Aiyana, in 2006. She is now a sweet 10-year old.

Paes and Pillai’s relationship turned rocky when the two of them allegedly parted ways post the Lon

This story is from the December 2017 edition of SOCIETY.

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