Let’s be fair; no one expected tennis to bring a medal at the Olympics in the last 16 years. Ever since Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi stopped partnering together, no one really expected an Indian tennis player to get a medal. If it weren’t for Paes’ miracle run at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, we still wouldn’t have a medal in tennis. But at the Paris Olympics, there was a chance to repeat history.
India’s only singles player, Sumit Nagal, had reached his career-high ranking of 68 just a couple of weeks ago, and clay is admittedly his best surface. In the men’s doubles, we had world number four Rohan Bopanna partnering with 65 ranked N Sriram Balaji.
Sumit Nagal’s tough but expected loss
Nagal drew French Corentin Moutet, someone who would have all the backing playing at Roland Garros and was ranked higher than him. The only good thing was that he’d beaten Moutet on clay just a month ago in Marrakech. Nagal gave his all and lost in a tight three sets, losing the third 7-5. It was a tough loss, but no one can hardly say that it wasn’t expected. Moutet has shown that he’s a different beast when playing with the crowd in his favour and that amplified when he played in his country.
That disappointment would sting, but the hopes of a medal were pinned on Bopanna and Balaji. The French Open, the venue for the Paris Olympics, holds a special place in Bopanna’s heart. It was where he got his first Grand Slam (mixed doubles) back in 2017. It was that moment that led him to this day, when, at 44, he got his first men’s doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and won the Miami Open to become the oldest player to win a Slam and a Masters.
He missed the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, and this was, as he later revealed, his last ever tournament for India, having already retired from the Davis Cup. One last hurrah. Similar to Nagal, he drew French opponents, Fabien Reboul and Édouard Roger-Vasselin, both of whom were ranked inside the top 40. It was a tough task, but Bopanna and Balaji were certainly good enough to pass it.
Under pressure, Rohan Bopanna no where to be found
Rain delayed their match, and Reboul pulled out just a few hours before the match. In comes Gael Monfils. A singles star who has been on the wane for some time now. Monfils had a career-high doubles ranking of 155 and hadn’t won a doubles match since August 2022. But the French crowd absolutely adores him, and he would show that by beating the Indian duo 7-5, 6-2.
Bopanna, who was supposed to be the best player on the court, was the worst quite easily. Balaji, making his Olympic debut, fared much better than him and was ice cold when under pressure. Monfils later admitted that it was the best doubles match he’d ever played. But the Indians helped him do that. They didn’t target him enough at the net. Had multiple opportunities to go up a break in both sets but floundered them.
No one expected a first-round exit, especially knowing that he’d probably have to beat four of the top five seeds if they wished to win the gold. Losing to Monfils, who has a 29-85 record in men’s doubles, isn’t right at all. If the burden of failure has to fall on someone, it has to fall on the senior Bopanna, who was like a deer in the headlights.
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