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Rohan Bopanna, former French Open mixed-doubles winner recently said that he will be happy to partner with singles stars like Ramkumar Ramanathan or Sumit Nagal for the men’s doubles draw at the Asian Games scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China in September and October later this year. He mentioned that breaking the successful teams of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni, or Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan may not be advisable for Team India’s cause. It’s especially because the Asian Games will allow only 6 members in a men’s team from one country for the tennis events.
As the oldest player to win the ATP Masters 1000 title with Australian partner Matthew Ebden at Indian Wells in USA last month, Rohan Bopanna is looking forward to bigger and better things as the tennis season moves forward. He was quoted as saying to Sportstar, “The hard court season is going to be hectic. After the US Open, we have the Davis Cup, the Asian Games and the Shanghai Masters.” Bopanna is currently playing clay court tennis in Europe and it has been a challenging assignment for him to say the least.
The 43-year-old is also hopeful that Team India would get the chance to host the World Group-2 tie in Davis Cup against Morocco in either Bengaluru or Coorg this coming September.
While talking about the Asian Games, Bopanna said, “I wonder how the selectors are going to choose the Asian Games team, as we can have only six men.”
“It may not be advisable to break the successful doubles teams of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni, or Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. They are doing well as a team, and I would rather let them play as a team. We have to strike a balance and give chance for the singles players also. I will be happy to play doubles with one of the singles specialists like Ramkumar Ramanathan or Sumit Nagal. With two Indian seeded teams, we can try to make the final from two different halves of the draw, and enhance the chances of two medals,” he concluded.