Mixed route not too tough to tackle
LAST HOPE After doubles exits, Sania-Rohan have realistic chance of an Olympic medal playing together
RIO DE JANEIRO: India’s hopes for a tennis medal now rest with Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in mixed doubles. That event is, anyway, the easiest podium shot as after just two matches a pair makes the semis and is in contention for a medal. The withdrawal of the Byran brothers of US makes the field weaker. Then, Roger Federer and Stanislaw Wawrinka opted out on account of injuries which in turn means that even the mixed prowess of Martina Hingis won’t be in the fray. The smaller field does perk up the chances of the Indian combo.
Looking at the possible combinations, the final list of the pairs will only be decided after the spot sing-in for the competition on Tuesday, the strong potential pairing are France’s Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Kristina Mladenovic, Ivan Dodig and Ana Konjuh from Croatia as well as Jelena Jankovic and Ninad Zimonjic from Serbia. Novak Djokovic opting out of the mixed allows for even more optimism for our lot. However, Rafael Nadal is in the fray and that will just make things all the more interesting. NOT TOO FAST The hardcourts for the Olympics are not playing too fast. The surface is abrasive and a bit grainy leading to the ball speed slowing down on impact. The high bounce ideally sets up the big Mirza forehand while it will also aid Bopann’s huge serve. The Indian’s with their combined ranking of 12 (Mirza was number one and Bopanna 11 at the time of the June 6 cut off for the Olympics) may well end up being one of the four seeds. If the luck of the draw allows the chips to fall in our lot’s favour, the mixed medal may well proved to be lowhanging fruit.
On Saturday, in the women’s doubles encounter between Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare and the Chinese pair of Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang, the latter prevailed 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 7-5 in a two hour 44 minute battle. Now, the Chinese had come into the match after their singles encounters and both were visibly tired. In fact, Peng sported kinesio taping on her leg as well as arm. When she walked off the court later, she was limping with apparent cramps. Against their obviously weakened prowess, Mirza struggled to hold serve. The inability to serve out the first set while leading 5-4 proving to be the deal breaker as far as the final result went.
In mixed doubles, anyway, it’s about holding the woman’s serve which is crucial to the outcome as most of the men serve big enough to hold relatively easy. Mirza’s serve will be the lynch pin for India’s medal hopes. Of course, just what Bopanna does on the net to bolster his partner’s serve is all the more pertinent.
There has been a lot of bad blood amongst our players going into this Olympics and the Indian sports lover at large is quite put off by the incessant selection drama in Indian tennis. Its upto Mirza-Bopanna to now justify that this discipline is even worth the excessive press and hopes that it kindles. Also, there has been a lot of talk that doubles is a specialization within tennis. It remains to be seen as to whether the specialists actually prevail when the singles big guns take to firing in the twosome variety.
In mixed doubles it’s all about the woman holding serve. Given the withdrawals and the weaker field, Sania and Rohan have a superb chance to get India a medal. LEANDER PAES