Rohan Bopanna At Paris Olympics 2024: Who Can The Indian Tennis Star Partner? - How It Works

The reigning Australian Open men's doubles champion, Rohan Bopanna, will compete at the Paris Olympics 2024 in the corresponding event. But, who can he partner and how does it work?

Akshat

Updated on: 3 February 2024 10:54 pm

Rohan Bopanna of India holds his trophy after he and partner Matthew Ebden of Australia defeated Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy in the men's doubles final at the Australian Open 2024 at Melbourne Park, Melbourne on January 27, 2024. (Photo: AP)

Just under a week ago, Rohan Bopanna proved that when it comes to excellence, age is no bar. At 43 years old, the Indian tennis star became the oldest men's Grand Slam winner, accompanying Australia's Matthew Ebden in a men's doubles triumph that sent a surge of jubilation throughout the country. (More Tennis News)

A few days after his Australian Open 2024 victory, Bopanna climbed to the top of the ATP Doubles Rankings, becoming the most experienced individual to do so in history.

With a Grand Slam in the bag, Bopanna has set his sights onto the next target: Paris Olympics 2024.

While Bopanna will surely participate in the tournament, the identity of his partner remains up for discussion at the time of writing. As much was confirmed by the man himself in a recent interview.

“Definitely, it’s going to be great that we have a representation in the men’s doubles (in Paris). Who I’m going to play with is yet to be confirmed. June is the deadline, so I need to pick a partner. Mixed doubles will not happen because there is no girl ranked high enough to qualify. The only event currently guaranteed is men’s doubles," Bopanna said, as quoted by Indian sports publication, Sportskeeda.

"The French Open won’t make any difference in terms of preparing for the Olympics because I will be playing with Matt Ebden at the French Open. I won’t be playing with an Indian partner. After that whoever I play with, I just need to try and hope we get at least one or two tournaments."

Rohan Bopanna, left, of India and Matthew Ebden of Australia react after receiving their trophy after defeating Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy in the men's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. - (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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BY Outlook Sports Desk

Owing to his world ranking, Bopanna will be provided a direct slot in the Paris Olympics men's doubles tennis tournament. As per competition rules, of the 32 places on offer, ten are reserved for the players in the top ten of their respective doubles rankings, who can subsequently select any compatriot as long as he or she are ranked inside the 300-mark.

Bopanna, who is the world's best-ranked men's doubles player as per the latest ATP rankings, is guaranteed a spot in the Paris Olympics draw at the time of writing, as long as his partner is ranked 300 or below.

By his own admission, Bopanna will be unable to play in the mixed doubles event, owing to the poor ranking of Indian female tennis doubles players. He will, however, compete in the men's doubles category and have a selection of partners to choose from too!

Currently, Bopanna can select between Yuki Bhambri (60), N Sriram Balaji (78), Vijay Sundar Prashanth (80), and Anirudh Chandrasekar (89) to partner him in Paris.

Whom he selects, though, remains to be seen.