Bhupathi-Bopanna gone; crashes out in the second round of men’s doubles – Tennis News
Seventh seeded Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna lost in a second round of the London Olympics with a straight sets upset by the French tandem of Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet.
Earlier, the couple was adamant to keep their partnership at the Olympics and refused the All Indian Tennis Association (AITA) to pair up with doubles champion, Leander Paes. They miserably failed, surrendering 3-6, 4-6 by
the French singles specialists in slightly more than an hour. Hence, all their claims for not splitting and perform wonders at the London Games went down the drain.
The French player’s performance was exceptional and they were able to beat Bhupathi and Bopanna’s serve three times. They performed exceptionally well as Bopanna committees some vital mistakes with his serve in the fourth
and ninth game correspondingly in the second set.
The rainy day at Wimbledon courts turned out to be ominous for the Indian players. As all the Indian stars faced heavy lost in the doubles. After the match, the players clearly ignored the media on purpose. Bhupathi’s wife
initially watched the contest with great excitement, however, she was also disappointed to the loss.
Anticipating the Olympics pressure in the doubles category, the AITA had paired Bhupathi with the Indian number one, Paes. On the other hand, the pair refused to contest in the double category, resulting in a lot of controversy
and isolating Paes. According to many, this was a great loss because the new couple was amongst the Olympic favourites for the medal.
President Anil Khanna informed the media, “Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan (ranked 207) and Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna will be the two teams. We request Leander to reverse to his thoughts and he should help Bopanna
and Vishnu to succeed in their first Olympics. This decision is unfair to India No. 1 (Paes). AITA holds Leander in very high esteem. We are confident that Leander won't disappoint us as he has done yeoman's service to the game.”
Bhupathi blamed Paes for not being honest to him in the past and changing partners without his consent. Paes paired with the underdog Vishnu Vardhan for the doubles by the AITA. The duo could not even secure a seed for the
tournament. They were knocked down in the first match by the French second seeds, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra by 6-7, 6-4, 3-6.
India’s sole focus is the tennis medal in the mixed doubles, played by Paes and Sania Mirza on Thursday.
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