London: The Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the men’s doubles event at the London Olympics, losing in straight sets to French pair of Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet, in London today.
Early exit. Reuters
The final result was 6-3 6-4 in favour of the Frenchmen as they closed out the match in only 77 minutes. It was a tough match for the Bhupathi-Bopanna pair after its grueling three-setter against Belarusian pair of Max Mirnyi and Alexander Bury.
Bhupathi and Bopanna, who were at loggerheads with the AITA and arm-twisted the parent body into sending them as a pair, were no match for Gasquet and Benneteau — both of whom are singles specialists.
The French pair broke the Indian pair’s serve on three occasions — once in the first set and twice in the second set.
Bopanna, known for his booming serves, was broken twice in the second set despite the Indian pair leading 3-0.
It was a match gifted on the platter to the French pair after they had a convincing lead, as Bopanna lost his serve in the fourth and ninth game of the second set respectively.
PTI
