Paris: Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the French Open in the opening round of the men's doubles. They lost to the French duo of Marc Gicquel and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a match that lasted for an hour and 35 minutes.
The loss has now put their dream to participate as a team in London Olympics has received a huge dent as none of the players are ranked in top 10. Bhupathi (ranked 13) and Bopanna (ranked 12) would require to be in top 10 by June 11 if they want a direct entry to men’s double event of the London Olympics.
As per the rules, only a top player enjoys the liberty to choose his partner in the Olympics irrespective of the ranking and if All India Tennis Federation decides to field only one team then either Bopanna or Bhupathi would miss out of the team.
India’s Leander Paes who is currently ranked seventh is the only automatic choice for the Olympics from the country and he gets to choose his partner.
Bhupathi-Bopanna seeded sixth in the tournament started off well in the match, and won the first set comprehensively. They were on course to proceed to the next round, but the unseeded duo from France gatecrashes their party to win the next two sets to knock the Indian pair out of the tournament.
By Indian Sports News Network
