Doubles attack

Gaurav Kanthwal

THERE are very few tennis fans in India who are expecting an Olympics medal for India from tennis. The team wants to win a medal, of course, and their hopes are riding on the three doubles events. But, realistically speaking, their chances seem bleak. India’s best bet of winning a medal is the pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in the mixed-doubles event. Sania is the world No. 1 in the women’s doubles, Bopanna is the world No. 15 in the men’s doubles. They have an outside chance of winning a medal if they dish out their A game and luck favours them through the tournament. 

There are higher-ranked teams in the fray, yet this pair does have a chance. The main reason is that they combine well as a team and have mutually complementary styles of play. While Sania plays on the forehand court,  Bopanna is a backhand court player. Both of them have big serves and aggressive styles, which would suit the hardcourt surface in Rio. However, though they know each other’s style well, they have not played together in the recent past. “Both of us had already committed (to play with other partners), because of which we couldn’t play together in the Slams,” Sania said recently. “But I know Rohan for a long time, we’re friends, we’ve partnered before, we know each other’s game.”

They know that winning a medal will be tough. However, they are not getting bogged down by the burden of expectations. “This is not going to be easy, there will be big teams in the fray,” Sania said. “We hope to carry our best form into the tournament and let’s see where it takes us.”

On a given day, Sania-Bopanna would have the skills and ability to beat any higher-ranked team, but in the Olympics, the players are extremely motivated. All top-ranked players want to cash in on the opportunity to earn glory by winning a medal for their country. 

The mixed-doubles competition will comprise 16 teams. This is the smallest field at the Olympics tennis tournament — winning three matches would guarantee a team a medal. The teams will be selected from among the players who have already been nominated for the singles or doubles competitions, taking into account their singles and doubles rankings on 6 June. 

Men’s doubles

The combined doubles ranking of Leander Paes and Bopanna is No. 56. This sums up India’s chances of winning a medal in the men’s doubles. Bopanna (world No. 15) and Paes (world No. 61) are probably in the last leg of their professional careers. They would have a chance to win a medal if they get a favourable draw. They have not played or trained together for a long time and it is not certain how they are going to turn up in Rio. Lee-Bops played together in the Davis Cup on a grass court in Chandigarh recently. They were not terrific but they weren’t bad either. The coordination was satisfactory and their familiarity with each other’s game would aid the duo to gel together.

The duo still has some time at hand and may train together in Rio for a week ahead of the start of the Olympics. Paes, playing his seventh Olympics, would be fired up to finish on a high. A look at the rivals throws up some big names. Top among them are the Murray brothers of the United Kingdom and Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. The American team of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan can still be a force to reckon with.

Women’s doubles

Two-time Olympian Sania and Prarthana Thombare in the women’s doubles will have a huge task at hand. The duo has been practising together in Hyderabad for the last fortnight and will continue to train together till July 30. The duo will reach Rio on August 1 and train for a week to adapt to the conditions.

Switzerland's Martina Hingis and Belinda Bencic are the top-ranked team. American sisters Serena and Venus Williams, Spaniards Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez-Navarro, Russians Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova, Italy's Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, Germans Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic, and the Czech pair of Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova are the other top contenders.

Prarthana said she is not scared of the big names: “We will clash with the big names but I am not afraid because I have world No. 1 Sania Mirza next to me and I think I am really prepared for it.”

Prarthana Thombare
Doubles
Born: 18 June 1994 (22)
Birthplace: Barshi, Solapur
Achievements: Bronze Incheon Asian Games 2014 (Women's doubles) | 17 ITF titles

Rohan Bopanna
Doubles
Born: 4 March 1980 (36)
Birthplace: Bengaluru
Achievements: Finalist US Open 2010 | ATP World Tour Finals 2012 | ATP World Tour Final 2015

Leander paes
Doubles
Born: 17 June 1973 (43)
Birthplace: Mumbai
Achievements: Bronze Atlanta Olympics Games 1996 | Semifinalists Davis Cup 1993 | Grand Slam (doubles) Winner Australian Open 2012 |  Winner French Open 1999, 2001, 2009 | Winner Wimbledon 1999 | Winner US Open 2006, 2009, 2013

Sania Mirza
Doubles
Born: 15 November 1986 (29)
Birthplace: Hyderabad
Achievements: Bronze Incheon Asian Games 2014 (doubles) | Silver Doha Asian Games 2006 (doubles) | Bronze New Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 | Gold Hyderabad Afro Asian Games 2003 (doubles) | Grand Slams (mixed doubles): 3 (Australian Open, French Open, US Open) | Grand Slams (doubles): 3 (Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon)

Short Takes

Russian shooters cleared for Rio  

LONDON: Russian shooters have been cleared to compete at the Rio Olympics, the International Shooting Federation (ISSF) said on Tuesday. "The 18 Russian shooters who have been entered to participate in Olympics are neither mentioned in the McLaren Report nor have they tested positive to doping," a statement said. "Further, all Russian athletes are being monitored as part of ISSF's intelligence based testing program. Therefore, the ISSF unanimously voted confirming that all 18 Russian athletes fulfil the criteria set by the IOC."

Uproar over Georgia's outfit 

LONDON: Women's rights activists in Georgia have urged the country's Olympic Committee to pick a more liberal design for its female athletes, criticising the official outfits for next month's opening ceremony at Rio as archaic. Inspired by the national costume, the outfit has been a major talking point in the former Soviet republic over the past few days, with many taking to social media to complain it projected the wrong image of the nation abroad. 

Federer pulls out of Rio   

Bern:Roger Federer has pulled out of the Rio Olympics and said he will miss the rest of the season as he needs "more extensive rehabilitation" following knee surgery earlier this year if he wants to prolong his career. "I'm extremely disappointed to announce that I will not be able to represent Switzerland at Rio and that I will also miss the remainder of the season," the 17-times Grand Slam champion said on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

Tennis at Rio
Number of Gold medals
5
event Dates
August 6 to 14 

Indian angle

India will participate in only the three team events — men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed-doubles. Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Sania Mirza and  Prarthana Thombare comprise the Indian team 

Schedule

Men’s doubles (Paes/Bopanna): Their first match will be on Aug 6 or 7, the medal matches are on Aug 12

Women’s doubles (Sania/Prarthana): Their first match will be on Aug 6 or 7, the medal matches are on Aug 13

Mixed-doubles (Sania/Bopanna: Their first match will be on Aug 10, the medal matches are on Aug 13 and 14

Format

• All events will have matches in the best-of-three sets format, except the men’s singles final, which is decided in the best-of-five sets format, with a final set tiebreak if necessary 
• Players will not receive WTA or ATP rankings points, or prize money, for participating in the Olympics
• The men’s singles and women’s singles fields will have 64 players each. The men’s doubles and women’s doubles fields will have 32 teams each. The mixed doubles field will have 16 teams

Favourites

USA have won 36 medals in Olympics tennis (20 gold, 5 silver, 11 bronze); Great Britain have 44 (17 gold, 15 silver, and 12 bronze); France have won 19 (5 gold, 6 silver, 7 bronze)

In the last four Olympics, the men’s singles gold has been won by Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Nicolas Massu and Yevgeny Kafelnikov 

The last four women’s singles gold winners were Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Venus Williams 

Venus and Serena Williams have the opportunity to add to their two women’s doubles gold, won in 2000 and 2008

Great williamses

Venus and Serena Williams of the USA have won four Olympics gold each — one each in women’s singles and three each in women’s doubles