Rio Olympics: Bopanna wants Myneni, Aita keen on Paes

In a move that may jeopardise Leander Paes’ hopes of a record seventh Olympics, Rohan Bopanna signalled his interest in partnering Saketh Myneni and not the veteran for the Rio Games.

Bopanna, who informed the All India Tennis Association about his decision on Friday morning, has earned India a direct entry into the men’s doubles event at the Olympics by virtue of his top 10 rank but it was learnt here that the Aita in no mood to accept Bopanna’s choice of partner.

“In the morning Bopanna conveyed that he wants to partner Myneni but the final call will be of the five-member selection committee and they will announce their decision on Saturday. Leander Peas is a legend and he is in great form as well.

“He is coming after winning a Grand Slam. He must go to Rio,” an Aita top official told this paper.

“They must have some misunderstandings but that will be rectified in coming days. Once they will be chosen as a team they will forget about the tiff and focus on the Olympics,” he added.

Paes, who just won the French Open mixed doubles with Martina Hingis and is ranked 46th, maintained that he and Bopanna were India’s best bet for an Olympic medal.

The next best players in the doubles for India are Purav Raja (103) Divij Sharan (114), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (134) and Mahesh Bhupathi (164) apart from Myneni (125).

“They are all professional players at the end of the day. They know they are playing for the nation. Leander and Mahesh always had tiffs but when they were on court they were unbeatable as a team. They are all very mature players.

“If Leander was ranked 200 or not doing well then we could have look for other option but he is in red-hot form and among the top 50 in the world. Then I would have said the better player should go.

“In the ranking too, Myneni is way behind at 125th. They (Paes and Bopanna) have played so many times and also won matches as well.”

According to ATP rules, Bopanna’s 10th spot in the world doubles rankings permits him to select a partner of his choice. But even if he was ranked 11th on the cut-off date, Bopanna and Paes would have qualified for the Rio Olympics as a team due to their combined rank.

“I look forward to representing India at my second Olympics and consider it a privilege, responsibility and honour.

“A Direct Acceptance provides me the right to nominate my men’s doubles partner, an opportunity for me to exercise my judgement as to the best possible partner for me.

“I am looking forward to the support and good wishes of all concerned in the lead-up to the Olympics,” Bopanna said in statement.

According to the ITF the doubles team has to be nominated by the national association and unless the Aita approves Myneni and Bopanna as a team, they can not play.

Earlier, Sania Mirza, the world number one and India’s highest ranked women’s doubles player, had said that she had “conveyed” her decision to the Aita about her preferred mixed doubles partner for Rio.