The Australian Open is upon us. And with the tournament up and running, all eyes will be on the Indian players who are participating in the first grand slam of the season. For India there will be high hopes on Rohan Bopanna especially. As the tournament gets going, former Tennis star Purav Raja in an exclusive interaction with InsideSport shared his thoughts and views.
Rohan Bopanna has been aging like fine fine. Despite being 43 years old, he is currently ranked 3rd in the World and has a high chance of winning the title. Expectations were also high on Yuki Bhambri. However, Bhambri and his partner Robin Hasse had to bow out in the first round clash 1-6, 7-6(10-8),7-6(10-7) to Rafael Matos and Nicholas Barrientos.
Bopanna has Huge Weapons
With Bhambri out, Indian fans will now pin their hopes on Bopanna. Rohan Bopanna and partner Matthew Ebden will lock horns with James Duckworth and Marc Polmans in their first round clash. Raja went on to claim that Bopanna has huge weapons up his sleeves that helps him to play at the best level even today.
“Rohan Bopanna has weapons that nobody else possess. He has a huge serve and at this age (43) it is a huge thing. Ivo Karlovic and John Isner did it. Thus the serve is a big benefit for him and also he is a big ball striker. We have to give him credit for these areas that has kept him at the top of the game. He is number 3 in the world and knocking on the door of a grand slam title,” Raja told InsideSport.
“Yuki Bhambri can learn a lot mentally from Rohan Bopanna. Yuki plays a very different style and thus can learn a lot about the game. Yuki is more about accurate playing style while Rohan is about using huge weapons in the game. Like what can Hardik Pandya learn from Pujara? They may be close but in terms of game style they are very different” Raja added.
A shot at Olympics?
The Paris Olympics is not that far away. With athletes all across the globe preparing for the multi event, the same will be the case for the Indian tennis stars as well. But realistically speaking what are India’s chances of clinching a medal at the Olympics? Purav Raja claimed that India has the ability to get a medal and when they do, it will be a huge achievement.
“Having a fair shot will be a huge huge achievement. Let’s not forget Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati were World Number 1 and never won a medal. Rohan and Sania too didn’t win a medal when they were at the top of their game. The only medal we have is a singles owing to a miracle by Leander in 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. I don’t doubt that they have the ability to win a medal, but if they do it will be a phenomenal achievement,” he concluded.
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