Tough draw for Indians in men’s doubles tennis
July 26th, 2012 - 9:03 pm ICT by IANS
London, July 26 (IANS) Indian men’s doubles pairs of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, and Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan have been handed a tough first round match in the tennis event at the London Olympics.
Bhupathi-Bopanna are seeded seventh and face Belarus’s Max Mirnyi and Alexander Bury in the first round starting Saturday.
The unseeded duo of Paes-Vardhan will take on the Dutch pairing of Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer in the 32-team draw that was announced here Thursday.
Wild card Somdev Devvarman, India’s sole singles representative at the Olympics, will meet Finland’s Jarko Nieminen in the men’s singles event beginning Sunday.
The women’s doubles combination of Sania Mirza and Rushmi Chakravarthi begin their challenge against Su-Wei Hsieh and Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei.
In the men’s doubles, the Indians will have to play out of their skins for a podium finish. Bhupathi-Bopanna will play either Britain’s Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins or Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet if they clear the first hurdle.
They are drawn to meet third seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic from Serbia in the quarterfinals.
The going will be tougher for Paes and Vardhan, who will run into second seeded French pairing of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra in the second round.
- Olympic tennis: Last chance for Paes and Bhupathi (Preview) - Jul 27, 2012
- Olympic tennis: Paes-Saina crash out of mixed doubles (Lead) - Aug 05, 2012
- Olympic tennis: Paes-Sania crash out of mixed doubles (Second Lead) - Aug 05, 2012
- Olympic tennis: Paes-Vardhan, Bhupathi-Bopanna in second round (Third Lead) - Jul 31, 2012
- Olympics: India tennis doubles matches postponed - Jul 29, 2012
- Bhupathi-Bopanna start Olympics campaign with win (Second Lead) - Jul 31, 2012
- Bhupathi-Bopanna start Olympics campaign with win (Lead) - Jul 30, 2012
- Olympic tennis: Rebel pair of Bhupathi-Bopanna knocked out (Lead) - Aug 01, 2012
- Olympics: Saina, Jai Bhagwan stay on course as archers, shooters bow out (Overall Roundup) - Jul 30, 2012
- Olympics: Saina, Jai Bhagwan, Vijender add lustre to India's campaign (Intro Roundup) - Jul 30, 2012
- Olympics: Saina, Jai Bhagwan, Vijender add shine to India's campaign (Roundup) - Jul 30, 2012
- Olympic tennis: Vardhan loses in first round - Jul 30, 2012
- Bhupathi-Bopanna knocked out of Australian Open (Lead) - Jan 22, 2012
- Schedule of events involving Indian athletes at the London Olympics Sunday - Jul 29, 2012
- Olympics: Schedule of events involving Indian athletes Sunday - Jul 29, 2012
Tags: chia jung chuang, chinese taipei, colin fleming, janko tipsarevic, jarko nieminen, jean julien, jo wilfried tsonga, julien benneteau, leander paes, london olympics, mahesh bhupathi, max mirnyi, michael llodra, nenad zimonjic, richard gasquet, robin haase, rohan bopanna, rojer, tennis london, vishnu vardhan