Coming fresh from winning the mixed doubles title with his swiss partner Martina Hingis at the recently concluded French Open, veteran doubles specialist leander Paes on Tuesday said that his partnership with Rohan Bopanna will be India’s best bet for a medal at the upcoming Rio Olympics.
It will be leander’s record-setting seventh appearance at the mega even for India. He recently moved up five spots to 46 in the latest men’s rankings but that wasn’t enough to get a direct qualification berth for Rio Olympics.
“Without a shadow of doubt, Rohan and me are the best team for a medal at Rio. I am sure that AITA (All India Tennis Association) will send the best team in doubles for Rio,” Paes said at a press conference here.
Rohan Bopanna has a history of not so good relation with Paes after refusing to partner him during the london 2012 Olympic Games. Paes’ relationship with Bopanna and Bhupathi has been a long-standing issue for Indian tennis yet Paes believes that pairing up with Bopanna is the right choice if India has to win a medal at Rio.
India’s doubles star Rohan Bopanna says the bitterness that had developed between him and Paes in the build-up to the 2012 london Games is long gone and over, a thing of past which he has forgotten.
However he chose not to speak when asked why there was mistrust among the top Indian players — him, Sania Mirza and Bopanna. “My silence says it all,” he replied with a smile.
Bopanna grabbed that berth after gaining a place in the top 10 rankings and has the option of choosing his partner from among Paes, Purav Raja (103) Divij Sharan (114), Saketh Myneni (125), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (134) and Mahesh Bhupathi (164) for 2016 Olympics.
The right-hander, however, remains optimistic in his thinking and said his first-ever mixed doubles trophy at Rolland Garros was a career highlight and showed he has still got it.
“This French Open trophy is very special, we have shown the world that Indians can be world class players,” he said.
For Paes, age is just a number and he is faced with questions regarding his future. But Paes with a smile asked everyone to keep guessing. “One day curtains gonna come down, maybe at Rio, maybe after another Grand Slam, may be after another 2-3 years...the day I feel am done,” he said.