Sania, Bopanna show they are India’s best bet to win a medal

RIO DE JANEIRO: The mixed doubles tennis event is one of India’s best shots at a medal at the Olympics. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna kept that hope alive with a

RIO DE JANEIRO: The mixed doubles tennis event is one of India’s best shots at a medal at the Olympics. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna kept that hope alive with a 7-5, 6-4 win in cold blustery conditions on Thursday.

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They tamed the Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and John Peers in 75 minutes which showcased the prowess of our doubles specialists in this format. Now, Stosur is a former world number one in doubles and even won the US Open singles title.

But in this first-round encounter, she was particularly listless and her hesitation between camping on the baseline and rushing to the net proved to be debilitating. Peers seemed to come under increasing pressure as the match wore on and his magic hands, for which he is famous on the Tour, began to look cramped as he stumbled through unforced errors.

Sania is a proven winner at the highest echelons of the game and the X-factor in this combo has always been Bopanna’s ability to come good on the big stage. The man with the most explosive serve in the history of Indian tennis did stumble about before getting his rhythm, but the fact that he served out the match with an ace augurs well for his confidence going into the quarterfinals.

Yes, that’s how much easier it is to win a medal in mixed. While it would take two wins to make a quarter in the other doubles draws and three in the 64-strong draw of singles, mixed is the only format that has a shorter draw of 16. Then, a new bogey has been introduced in the draw in the form of the pairing of Andy Murray and Heather Watson. They took the place of Romanians Monica Niculescu and Florin Mergea as the latter chose to bolster his chances in the men’s doubles by withdrawing from the mixed. The Indians next run into the British pair, and Murray is already an Olympic silver medallist in this format having partnered Laura Robson in London. This match will be a tough one and if Sania-Bopanna prevail, they make the semis and are in medal contention.

The rain here in Rio has left the tennis schedule in disarray. Even the Sania-Bopanna match had to be delayed till late evening as rules stipulate that any player who has played one match must be given rest (an hour or above depending upon the duration of the first match) before he is asked to step out again. Rafael Nadal, who was playing in all three events, forfeited his mixed encounter on account of the mayhem in the scheduling, and that meant that the third seeds of the mixed went out. Earlier, the top two seeded pairs had already been beaten.

The singles proponents are proving that when they choose to play doubles, they don’t lose easy. It will be quite an ask for the Indians against the British, but given the confidence with which Sania is leading from the front, India’s chances can’t be dismissed.