Rohan Bopanna to partner with Sriram Bajali in Paris Olympics, AITA confirms

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced the “qualification” of Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji for the doubles event of the Paris Olympics.

In a release issued on Thursday, the AITA secretary general, Anil Dhupar, stated that coach M Balachandran and physio Rebecca Van Orshagen would be the supporting cast for the Indian pair.

The AITA extended its best wishes to the Indian tennis team, even as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) took over the responsibility of ensuring suitable support.

There was considerable suspense about Bopanna’s doubles partner, as he had qualified straight as a top-10 doubles player, with his world rank of No.4. Bopanna had kept a studied silence all along even though he had made up his mind to partner Balaji. Yuki Bhambri was also in the race as the second-best-ranked Indian doubles player.

Bopanna has had success with Ramkumar Ramanathan also in the past in the ATP circuit and had played Davis Cup and Asian Games with Yuki. Keeping several factors in mind, the 44-year-old Bopanna had chosen Balaji, who had a fine run in the French Open on the clay courts of Paris, where the Olympics tennis would be played.

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Even though he had the right, Bopanna was polite in declaring that the AITA would have the final say. AITA’s selection committee chose to honour Bopanna’s choice.

It may be recalled that when Leander Paes was a top-10 doubles player and had opted for Bopanna as his partner, he did not get the choice. Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi had teamed up then for the whole season in preparation for the Olympics and thus were adamant that they would play as a pair only.

That time, Mahesh and Sania Mirza had won the mixed doubles of the French Open but did not get to play the London Olympics as a pair. Instead, Sania was paired with Leander to give him a shot at a medal, as he only got to play with rookie Vishnu Vardhan in men’s doubles.

India is yet to better the individual tennis bronze won by Leander in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

In the Rio Olympics in 2016, Bopanna and Sania had raced away with the first set of the mixed doubles semifinals against Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram before the Americans turned the table on their way to the silver medal.