London Olympics 2012: Men's doubles preview
Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi have a point to prove.
Men’s Double’s event at the Olympics will be a fiercely contested competition, with almost all of the world’s topmost singles and doubles players competing. The draw will feature 32-teams, with 24 slots being awarded to teams based on the rankings of 21st June and 8 being awarded through wildcards. As per the ITF guidelines, each country is allowed to send a maximum of two eligible pairings. Only seven nations, including India, would be sending two nominations in this event.
The level of competition at this event at the Olympics is generally tougher than that in a grand slam field, because most of the top singles player also compete here. Hence, it is one of the few opportunities where you can see a certain Roger Federer or a Djokovic competing against a Bryan or a certain Leander Paes. Taking a look at the past Olympics,this event was dominated by the doubles specialist pairings, until a determined Roger Federer won it for Switzerland last time around.
This is the one event where India has always had a representation starting from the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when Tennis made a comeback in the Olympics. But whether it was the pairing of Amritraj brothers in the 1988 Seoul games or the young Leander paes playing his first Olympics in 1992 Barcelona games with Ramesh Krishnan, or his pairings was Mahesh Bhupathi in the following four Olympics, a medal has always eluded the Indians. The closest India got was in the Athens Olympics ,where they lost the Bronze medal playoff to the Croats, Ivan Lubjucic and Mario Ancic in a thrilling 3-setter. In the 1992 Olympics, Leander Paes and Ramesh Krishan had lost in the quarter-finals after beating the top seeded Aussie pairing of John Fitzgerald and Todd Woodbrigde in the second round.
This time the obvious pairings to watch out would be the Americans Bryan twins and the Polish pairing of Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski. Both the pairings are experienced and play regularly on ATP tour. Apart from them, all the singles specialists would be paring with their fellow countrymen to have another shot at the Olympic glory. Defending Champion Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka would be back to defend their crown, whereas Novak Djokovic would be parterning Victor Troicki. Apart from these obvious choices, the Czech team of Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych have a decent chance of progressing. Another pair to watch out would be the Israeli duo of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
After all the hue and cry, India would be sending two pairings to the Olympics, for the first time. Currently World number 5, Leander Paes would be pairing with a young Vishnu Vardhan, whereas Mahesh Bhupathi would be partnering Rohan Bopanna. Realistically speaking, only Bhupathi/Bopanna pairing have a chance of winning a medal and even they won’t have it easy. If their present form is any indicator, then it would be tough for them to reach anywhere near the medal rounds.
The other pairing of Paes\Vardhan don’t stand a realistic chance of progressing deep into the draw. But having said that, you can never underestimate the zeal and passion of a certain Leander Paes. He is known to play his skin out for the country, hence it would be interesting to see, how he motivates his young partner to bring his best out at this biggest stage for sports.