India's No.1 tennis ace Bopanna gets more than he bargained for at Rio

Rohan Bopanna’s tryst with tennis began at the tender age of 11, when his coffee planter farther encouraged him to play an individual sport. By 2003, aged 23 he started playing in pro leagues.

While his singles career never took off, the Coorgi distinguished himself as one of India’s finest doubles players at the 2007 Hopman Cup in Australia where he was paired along with tennis ace Sania Mirza to beat Czech Republic and won his first ATP doubles title in 2008 alongside American Eric Butorac, he would win his second title along with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, in 2010.

His partnership with Qureshi continued till and in 2010 the duo made it to the quarterfinals of the prestigious Wimbledon Championship. That same year, Bopanna and Qureshi also reached the finals at the US Open; by the end of the 2010 season he was ranked world no 8 in doubles earning the duo the nickname the IndoPak Express.

The number one doubles player in India today, Bopanna first played with Mahesh Bhupathi in the 2012 Australian, the pair won their first together at the Dubai Tennis Championships and later that year also clinched the Paris Master Cup. By 2013, Bopanna reached his highest world ranking at no 3 in doubles after Rohan partnered Eduard Roger Vasselin in Wimbledon in 2013 and reached the semifinals. 

Currently ranked 10th in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) doubles ranking, Bopanna was quite miffed about his pairing with veteran Leander Paes for the men’s doubles at the Rio Olympics, he had sent a preference request for a considerably inexperienced 28-year Saketh Myneni who is presently ranked at 125.“I have much admiration for Leander Paes and his many achievements, but unfortunately we have not been able to put together a good combination despite our best efforts and I do not believe our styles of play are either compatible or complementary," Bopanna told Sportskeeda.

Bopanna will also play with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles category at the Rio Olympics.

• Rio Olympics 2016
• Rohan Bopanna
• Tennis