Indian tennis has seen the worst in the last one month. The selection for the Olympics became national debate and it was embarrassing the way players fought to play with their favorite partners, ignoring the decision made by the All India Tennis Association (AITA). The controversies seem to have ended it looks that sanity has prevailed at last. Tennis heavyweights, including Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Sania Mirza have all blackmailed their way to what they wanted and it seems that finally the focus has shifted from selection to what matters – the London Olympics.

Let’s start it from the beginning. The controversy arose when AITA paired Mahesh Bhupathi with Leander Paes and decided that they will only send one team when they had the option of sending two.  The decision looked quite fair from tennis fans’ point of view as they were the two best doubles players in India and it did make sense to pair them up if India wanted to win a medal. But the decision did not go well with Bhupathi, as he said, come what may be, he would not pair up with Paes.

He claimed that he and Rohan Bopanna have been practicing together from the past 7-8 months together and he would only play with him. By the look of things, it was clear that Paes also wanted to get teamed up with Bopanna and hence AITA went to Bopanna and asked him to pair with Paes.

But it was not going to be that simple as even Bopanna refused to pair with Paes, who is only Indian to get a direct entry into the Olympics. From there things messed up, as AITA made their stand very clear that Paes was their number one choice and one of the two would have to be pair up with him because sending two teams was not an option.

Bhupathi-Bopanna then took a bold step as they not only went vocal wrote letters to the Sports Ministry and AITA and the matter took an ugly turn. The minister got involved asking AITA as to why they weren’t sending two teams when they have the choice. Even the political heavyweights like S.M. Krishna, who is the External Affairs Minister of India, came into the picture as he tried convincing Paes to pick partner other then Bhupathi or Bopanna.

AITA then teamed up Paes with young Vishnu Vardhan and to compensate that paired Paes with Sania Mirza for the mixed doubles category and made sure that the team will not change no matter what. Sania then got the wild card entry into the Olympics and wrote a letter in which she blamed the association for male chauvinism, she said that it was embarrassing for her to see the way she was treated by the association and thrashed her fellow players as well. But Sania unlike other players said that she is ready to play with whoever she is asked to.

So, it all seems settled now, but the recent performance by the tennis players in Wimbledon and on the same court where Olympics will be played showed that the controversies did hinder players’ performance. No one apart from Leander Paes managed to make any mark and things look bad for India in the coming Olympics.

Let us now discuss the chances of Indian Players in London:

Men’s Doubles: India is sending two teams, Bhupathi-Bopanna and Paes-Vardhan to compete in this category. Paes-Vardhan is a new pair and their chances look very bleak. It will be a good experience for Vardhan to play alongside Paes, but to expect a medal from them will be harsh on them.
Bhupathi-Bopanna have a point to prove. These two men were involved in the biggest controversy that Indian tennis has seen and now they have got what they wanted. They have been training together from the past 7-8 months, but their chances do not look good. They have had victories against some good pairs but there performance in Grand Slams is not impressing as they have not gone beyond the third round in the three Grand Slams in which they have participated. Men’s doubles is anyways a tough category as some of the best players will participate in it. Everyone from the Bryan brothers to Nadal, Federer and Djokovic will participate and it will be very difficult for the two Indian teams.

Men’s Singles: Somdev Devvarman will fight it out in the single’s category after AITA got him a wildcard entry into the tournament. He is coming back from a shoulder injury and will be competing against the best in the world. Leander Paes won a bronze medal at Atlanta Olympics in singles and there is hardly any chance that Somdev can repeat Paes’ feat.

Women’s Doubles: Sania Mirza will team up with Rushmi Chakravarthi in this category. Together they managed to win a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, but repeating the feat at Olympics does not look that sound. They will be competing against the likes of the Williams sisters and teams from Russia and things will be very difficult for them.

Mixed Doubles: This is a category where India has a chance, after all the controversies it is decided that Paes will team up with Mirza and together they have a strong chance. It is a draw of 16 and winning three matcxhes can fetch a bronze medal and these two players surely have it in them to go beyond that. The only thing that the pair lacks is the experience of playing together, they have represented India in past tournaments but the result has not been that impressing. Still India’s best chance of winning a medal lies in the mixed doubles category. By Gaurav Jha