Rio on The Radar as Leander/Hingis Face Sania/Ivan in French Final

A lot at stake for Leander Paes.

On a day when both pairs were forced to play two matches each, Leander Paes and Martina Hingis and also Sania Mirza along with Ivan Dodig have forged into the mixed doubles Finals of the French Open.

Rain delays through the first half of the week forced a hectic schedule on the two pairs as they had to take the courts for their quarter-finals as well as semi-final matches on Thursday. The Final is later today.

In the top-half of the draw, Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis played their quarterfinal against fifth seeds Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares, winning with a 6-4, 6-3 scoreline. They were then back on Philippe-Chatrier to face sixth seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and roughed it out for a 6-3 3-6 [10-7] win.

Sania and Dodig, seeded second, first overcame a mid-match scare against the seventh seeded pair of Yung-Jan Chan and Max Mirnyi to win their quarterfinal 6-1 3-6 [10-6]. They then returned later in the day for the semis, a hard-fought fixture against third seeds Kristina Mladenovic and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The scoreline read 4-6, 6-3 [12-10].

Olympics on The Radar

Though Sania and Martina Hingis were knocked out early in the tournament, today’s Final keeps both the ladies’ hopes alive of winning their fourth Grand Slam on the trot(though in different draws).

Leander Paes on the other hand has a more pressing reason to gun for the crown. With the Olympics in August this year, the former nine-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion will be looking to pick up as many points as possible to make the eligibility criteria.

Paes, who has won the Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon titles with Martina Hingis in 2015, is currently ranked 51st on the ATP chart. According to the rule book, a player now needs to be within the top 56 to be eligible to compete in Rio. Specially with the IOC’s new rule of no wild card entry.

However, keeping in mind the controversy before the London Games, Rohan Bopanna is currently ranked 11th in the world and a player needs to be within the top 10 by the end of this Slam to get direct qualification and, more importantly, chose a partner of his choice(rankings notwithstanding)

Throwing a bit more of the permutations out there, if Bopanna has not done enough this week to enter the top 10, India will have to field a team who’s culminated ranking fills the criteria. In which case, Leander Paes becomes Rohan’s partner at Rio, by default.