 "Paris Olympics 2024: Rohan Bopanna to partner Sriram Balaji or Yuki Bhambri")
Rohan Bopanna will partner either N Sriram Balaji or Yuki Bhambri as his doubles partner for the Paris Olympics and All India Tennis Association (AITA) will likely approve his decision even as the combinations will be discussed by the selection committee.
Bopanna, ranked fourth in the world, being a top-10 player, can pick a player of his choice as per the rules.
The men’s doubles draw at the Olympics will be a 32-team affair, where one country can have a maximum of two teams.
The qualification criteria allows top-10 players the privilege to pick their partners, who should be inside the top-300 on the ATP and WTA ranking charts as of the cutoff date of 10 June. It is when the French Open, the second major of the year, concludes in Paris.
According to AITA insiders, Bopanna had recommended names of Balaji and Bhambri to the federation for inclusion in Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) as his potential partners for the Games.
“Usually, it’s the player’s choice (to pick his partner). The selection committee will ask him about his choice and discuss that. Whoever Rohan wants to play with, will be considered positively,” AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar told news agency PTI.
Both Balaji and Bhambri have decent results on clay in the lead up to Roland Garros, which will be the site for the Summer Olympics from 27 July.
Balaji won the Cagliari Challenger event with Andre Begemann apart from reaching the semifinals at Francavilla al Mare in Italy.
Bhambri, meanwhile, won the ATP 250 event in Munich with Albano Olivetti in April and reached the semifinals of the Bordeaux Challenger – the only event he’s competed in this month.
The nominations for Olympics or other multi-sporting events have often created controversy in Indian tennis. In 2012, both Mahesh Bhupathi and Bopanna had refused to pair with Leander Paes, who was forced to play with Vishnu Vardhan. Sania Mirza was then asked to team up with Paes in the mixed doubles and the top women’s player had chastised the AITA for using her as bait to placate Paes.
At the 2018 Asian Games, Paes had pulled out of the continental event just two days before the start of the competition, saying he was not given a specialist player to pair with. AITA had nominated Bopanna and Divij Sharan as a pairing, leaving Paes to team up with a singles expert.
This will be Bopanna’s last shot at wining an Olympic medal, having come close to a bronze medal with Sania Mirza in the mixed event of the 2016 Rio Games.
In the singles, Sumit Nagal will need a strong run at the French Open to boost his ranking. Ranked 94 in the world as of Monday, Nagal needs to go all out to make the 64-player draw. The organisers will accept 56 direct entries and out of six ITF places, three quotas have been awarded to winners of continental events – Asian Games, African Games and Pan-American Games.
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