Mixed doubles, mixed feelings: Is it Paes or Bhupathi with Sania for London Olympics?

June 13, 2012

Sania_olympics

Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza's win in the French Open gives a fresh twist to India's London challenge. India's best chance for a medal in tennis, after all, is in the mixed doubles and not in the men's doubles.

An Olympic field is stronger than a Grand Slam lineup in doubles. In the majors all the top singles players sit out of doubles. In the Olympics, where the country equation comes into play, singles stars figure prominently in the doubles field.

Some of the likely combinations for London are Rafael Nadal and Marcel Granollers; Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka; Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic; Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; the Murray brothers Andy and Jamie; Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.


However, most of the top guns are likely to sit out the mixed doubles as three competitions in eight days would make it one event too many.

The All India Tennis Association is pushing for a wildcard for Sania in either singles or doubles so that she'll be eligible to play the mixed doubles. Not that the competition will be any lighter here with Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi; Serena Williams and Bob Bryan; Petra Kvitova and Radek Stepanek; Nenad Zimonjic and Ana Ivanovic likely to feature in the competition, but India has a committed combination in Bhupathi and Sania, who have won two Grand Slam titles together, the second one coming less than a week ago.

Still, AITA's selection committee, which meets in Bangalore on June 15, will debate who Sania should partner should the wildcard come through. Bhupathi, with eight Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns to his credit, should be the automatic choice for a number of reasons.

Paes, with six mixed Slam titles, is the option, but the fact that he also plays the forehand court, which is Sania's strength, works against the pairing.

Besides, Bhupathi and Sania have been playing together for a while now are great friends and work well as a team. Their combined ranking of 26 (Sania is ranked No.12 and Bhupathi No. 14) would help them make the cut.


Bhupathi, however, can play the mixed event only if he plays the doubles - with either Bopanna (they make the cut comfortably) or Paes.


Who India will field in men's doubles will be the focal point of the selection committee meeting later this week. If the selectors go with Bhupathi and Bopanna, they could field a second team with the No.7 ranked Paes playing with a partner of his choice.


India's best bet for a medal in the men's doubles at the Olympics was always going to be Lee-Hesh. Despite their lack of success in the Olympics, where they've played together four times, the old boys could've pulled off a trick or two at the All England Club in July. What they have is history. What they lack is trust.



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News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

Belgrade, June 23: Novak Djokovic tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organized in Serbia and Croatia.

The top-ranked Serb is the fourth player to test positive for the virus after first playing in Belgrade and then again last weekend in Zadar, Croatia.

His wife also tested positive. “The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested. My result is positive, just as Jelena's, while the results of our children are negative," Djokovic said in a statement.

Djokovic has been criticized for organizing the tournament and bringing in players from other countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Viktor Troicki said Tuesday that he and his pregnant wife have both been diagnosed with the virus, while Grigor Dimitrov, a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist from Bulgaria, said Sunday he tested positive.

Borna Coric played Dimitrov on Saturday in Zadar and said Monday he has also tested positive. There were no social distancing measures observed at the matches in either country and Djokovic and other players were seen hugging each other and partying in night clubs and restaurants after the matches.

 “Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions,” Djokovic said.

“Our tournament meant to unite and share a message of solidarity and compassion throughout the region.” Djokovic, who has previously said he was against taking a vaccine for the virus even if it became mandatory to travel, was the face behind the Adria Tour, a series of exhibition events that started in the Serbian capital and then moved to Zadar.

He left Croatia after the final was canceled and was tested in Belgrade. The statement said Djokovic was showing no symptoms.

Despite the positive test, Djokovic defended the exhibition series. “It was all born with a philanthropic idea, to direct all raised funds towards people in need and it warmed my heart to see how everybody strongly responded to this,” Djokovic said.

"We organized the tournament at the moment when the virus has weakened, believing that the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met. “Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality that we are still learning to cope and live with.”

Djokovic said he will remain in self-isolation for 14 days and also apologized to anyone who became infected as a result of the series. Organizers of the Adria Tour said the third stage of the event, scheduled to held next week in Bosnia, has been cancelled.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 9: BWF World Championships defending champion PV Sindhu on Thursday cruised to the quarterfinals of the ongoing Malaysia Masters after winning a second-round match.

The 24-year-old had the upper hand in the clash and thrashed Japan's Aya Ohori in straight games 21-10, 21-15 that lasted for 34-minute. The world number six will now play in her quarterfinal match on January 10.

Earlier in the day, Saina Nehwal defeated South Korea's An Se Young 25-23, 21-12 in 38 minutes. The first game saw back and forth action between both shuttlers. In the end, Nehwal kept her cool to win the match.

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old had outclassed Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-15, 21-17 to progress to the pre-quarterfinals.

Shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament after losing their matches to Japan's Kento Momota and Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei respectively. 

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