INSIDE THE RACE TO BE BOPANNA'S PARIS PARTNER

There are several names who could partner Australian Open winnner in the upcoming Paris Olympics. Swaroop Swaminathan explores some potential candidates...

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THERE was a time in the recent past when India's men's doubles reserves in tennis was close to breaking point. In the first week of January 2022, Rohan Bopanna was the only player to be ranked inside the top-100 (No.43). Apart from Bopanna, there were only five players inside the top-200.

For a country that had come to rely on doubles players, this was a sudden downturn. In October 2019, for instance, Divij Sharan was the top-ranked Asian in the circuit. Cut to 2022 and he was No. 119.

Something had to be done to course correct. In March 2022, the Pune Metropolitan District Tennis Association (with substantial help from Bopanna) started the 'Doubles Dream of India'. The aim of the project was to help some of the leading doubles players by providing them coaches and physios. They would travel and stay with the players irrespective of the location.

As part of the programme, Bopanna also held a pre-season training camp in Dubai ahead of the 2023 season. The camp was conducted by South Africa's Jeff Coetzee, a well-known figure in the world of doubles (he had played a big part in Robert Farah and Juan Cabal becoming a gun doubles team on the circuit).

Less than 14 months removed from that off-season camp in Dubai, a course correction is well under way. Bopanna is World No 1, there are four others in the top-100 and seven others ranked from 100 to 200.