Ace doubles player Leander Paes and his big-serving partner Rohan Bopanna did not practise or play enough together to give themselves a decent chance to win a medal in the men’s doubles event at the Rio Olympic Games, said the former’s ex-partner Mahesh Bhupathi on Monday.
The (men’s) doubles team was definitely under-prepared, in fact there was no preparation — that’s the right word. They did not practice, did not play any matches together. Even when Leander and me were not playing on tour in 2004 and 2008 (Olympic Games in Athens and Beijing), we always came together, played a couple of tournaments together. That’s what the Olympics demands.Mahesh Bhupati, Tennis Player, India
“We (he and Paes) won three hundred matches on (ATP) tour, (but) we (still) made an effort to do it. This time they went in cold. Obviously one (doubles) match against a dilapidated Korean Davis Cup team is not the way to prepare for the Olympics,” said Bhupathi.
“That (medal) was never going to happen in the doubles. Our best bet was mixed (doubles), but unfortunately we (India) came close, but it did not happen,” said the 42-year-old Bhupathi who has won three men’s doubles and four mixed doubles titles in Grand Slam tournaments.
Bhupathi laughed when asked why does the men’s doubles combination attract negative publicity leading into the Olympics as it did for the third time running.
The next three will also be the same, nothing new. You saw the the comments yesterday about the two medallists (P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik). Comments in India just fly. All of us would have liked to win a medal. We came very close in 2008 — me and Leander and both of them (Bopanna and Sania) this year. Unfortunately in tennis it (chance to win medal in Olympics) comes only once in four years.
“That’s the way the cookie crumbles. A lot of players who are not as accomplished as the four of us have won medals. That’s the way it is. Nobody was more disappointed than the players themselves. Everyone worked for it and came up a little short,” he said.
“They (mixed doubles pair) were very unlucky. They were so close (to reaching the final). I mean, 3-1 up in super tie breaker and 6-2 in the first set. You have to give credit to Venus Williams who stepped it up and played amazing tennis in the super tie breaker,” Bhupathi added.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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