Paris Olympics: All eyes on Bopanna and Sumit as India aim to relive 1996 tennis triumph

New Delhi: The 1996 Olympics was, historically speaking, the pinnacle of Indian tennis as a sport. Against all odds, Leander Paes, at the age of 23, won bronze at the Atlanta Summer Games in 1996 despite not being a major power in the ATP Tour’s worldwide rankings.

Paes was the first and only Indian tennis player to win an Olympic medal. Fast forward to 2024, India will be aiming to recreate what Paes achieved in 1996 and bring an end to the 28-year-long medal drought in the sport of tennis, which is majorly dominated by European countries.

The three-member contingent will represent India in tennis at the Paris Olympics. Veteran tennis player Rohan Bopanna, who has represented India in the Olympics twice in 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio), paired with N Sriram Balaji, will compete in the men’s doubles while tennis phenom Sumit Nagal will vie for a medal in the men’s singles.

The 44-year-old Bopanna comfortably secured a quota for India, maintaining a spot in the top 10 of the doubles rankings since November last year. He is also the oldest athlete of the Indian contingent in Paris. Meanwhile, Nagal made the cut-off after climbing 18 places in the singles rankings last month, occupying the last spot among the eligible players who secured quotas via world rankings.

India will not have a player competing in the women’s event at the forthcoming Olympics in Paris since they have not yet discovered a player of Sania Mirza’s calibre after her retirement,

Earlier this year, Bopanna fulfilled a lifelong dream by winning his first Grand Slam doubles title at the Australian Open, partnering with Australia’s Matt Ebden. This tournament win propelled the Indian veteran to achieve world number one in doubles at the age of 43, becoming the oldest man in the Open Era to win a major men’s doubles title.

Bopanna narrowly missed a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics when Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram defeated Bopanna and Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. They then fell short against Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka in the bronze medal playoff.

In addition, all eyes will also be on Sumit Nagal, who has bagged an Olympic qualification after demonstrating consistency since last year and enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2024.

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