Getting the right combination: AITA has hard task at hand as Bopanna & Bhupathi refuse to partner Leander Paes

In a June 10 mail from Rohan Bopanna to All India Tennis Association secretary, Anil Khanna, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had asserted that: “Both of us are considered for selection as a doubles team only and not as individual players to be paired with any other players who might be eligible for men's doubles.”

The latest communication from Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna is quite categorical about the fact that they are not willing to be considered as individual players when it comes to selection for the Olympics, says a report in Hindustan Times.

The finality of the latest mail raises the stakes to an altogether different level, says the report, adding that Bhupathi and Bopanna are firm that they will not back off from this stance. “If that stays the case, then the selectors have no choice. The option of pairing Leander Paes with either one of them does not exist. From the selection committee's viewpoint, that would appear to be a confrontational stand. It becomes understandable only when examined from the point single match together in the last 7 months. Rohan and Leander have played one match together over the last 7 months and lost to a team from Uzbekistan. Somdev will be returning to competitive tennis after an injury lay-off… Further, our participation as a doubles team of a combined rank of less than 50 will give our nation the opportunity to put forward a second team of Leander and Somdev, thereby increasing the number of Indian teams participating at of view that this is a pair that came together early in the year with the explicit understanding that they would build up to a strong challenge at the Olympics,” says the report.

Meanwhile, a report in The Times Of India says that Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza’s win in the French Open gives a fresh twist to India’s challenge in the tennis event of the London Olympics. India’s best chance for a medal in tennis, if one is coming at all from this discipline, is in mixed doubles and not men’s doubles,” says the TOI report, adding that an Olympic field is stronger than a Grand Slam line-up in doubles. In the majors all the top singles players sit out of doubles.

“In the Olympics, where the country equation comes into play, singles stars figure prominently in the doubles field. Some of the likely combinations for London are __ Rafael Nadal and Marcel Granollers; Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka; Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic; Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; the Murray brothers Andy and Jamie; Tomas Berdych and Radek Steapnek. However, most of the top guns are likely to sit out of the mixed doubles as three competitions in eight days would make it one event too many,” says the report.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has hinted at sending only one men’s doubles team to the London Olympics. It leaves one top doubles player — Rohan Bopanna or Mahesh Bhupathi — facing the axe when the selection committee meets in Bangalore on Friday to pick the combination.

As things stand, Leander Paes, by virtue of being ranked among top-10 in the world, has earned a direct entry. But while he has insisted on playing with Bopanna, citing the need for “fresh legs”, the latter has shown an inclination towards partnering Bhupathi.

Amid this confusion, AITA has decided to play hardball, saying that it won’t give in to the whims and fancies of players. “Someone is going to get hurt, we’ll find out who. It’s unfortunate that we have three great doubles players but one of them will miss out on the Olympics,” a member of the selection committee told The Indian Express.

“Only if you play Rohan and Mahesh together can you send two teams, but that would mean leaving Leander, who has earned the right to play, in the lurch, without a good partner” he said.