Paris Olympics 2024: Rohan Bopanna-N Sriram Balaji Lose, India’s Tennis Campaign Ends In Single Day
Paris: India’s tennis campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 lasted just one day as Sumit Nagal and the men’s doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji bowed out after losing their respective opening matches to French challengers on Sunday. Nagal was first to take court, but his strong baseline game didn’t seem to be enough against mercurial Corentin Moutet, who earned a stylish three-set win.
In his second appearance at the Olympic Games, Nagal bounced back after losing the first set but fell 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 in two hours and 28 minutes at a packed court seven at the Roland Garros. In the Tokyo Games, Nagal had lost in the second round to Russian Daniil Medvedev but could not make the most of a manageable opener today. He was up 2-0 in the decider with an early break but allowed Moutet to claw his way back and win.
Later in the day, Bopanna and Balaji went down fighting 5-7, 2-6 against Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Gael Monfils, who replaced injured Fabien Reboul in the home team at the last minute. India have won only one Olympic medal in tennis, when Leander Paes bagged a bronze in the 1996 Atlanata Games.
Monfils’ big-hitting helped the home team that was egged on by the partisan crowd. It was probably the last time Bopanna represented India in a multi-sport event. The 44-year-old has already announced his retirement from Davis Cup.
The doubles match featured several fiery baseline exchanges between Bopanna and both the French players. The French ploy of engaging Bopanna in long rallies from the back took Balaji out of the picture on many points, and it largely denied the debutant opportunity of a quick finish at the net.
The Indians dropped serve first when Bopanna went down 0-40 in game six following a long rally that ended with Indian team’s unforced error. Bopanna and Balaji though got the break back in the next game on Roger-Vasselin’s serve. Down by a breakpoint, Monfils could not put away a volley.
The match was back on serve. Eventually, Balaji came out to serve at 5-6 to stay in the set. Feeling the nerves, he struggled to put first serves in and committed a double fault to get to 15-30. A long rally ensued, which ended in home team’s favour. At second set point, Bopanna netted a backhand volley.
Balaji could not hold serve in the second set, as Bopanna too stuggled to cope with the powerful strokes of the French players. The match ended with Indian team’s unforced error.