Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna made their presence felt against the Great Britain pair of Heather Watson and Andy Murray.
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India has witnessed its fair share of tennis stars like Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna over the years. However, the nation only has one medal to show so far in tennis when it comes to the history of the Olympics. Paes helped India win a historic bronze in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, beating Fernando Meligeni. He became the first Indian to win an individual medal since KD Jadhav won bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Paes was awarded the highest sporting honour by the government of India, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1996.
Sadly, the tennis star’s success was followed by a barren run when considering medals in the sport accumulated in the Olympics. However, things seemed set to change in the 2016 Rio Olympics, when Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna recorded a comprehensive win against Australians Samantha Stosur and John Peers in the Round of 16 stage of the Mixed Doubles event. The duo had been knocked out in their opening encounters of the Men’s doubles and Women’s doubles, when paired opposite Leander Paes and Prarthana Thombare respectively.
Mirza and Bopanna were slotted against the Great Britain pair of Heather Watson and Andy Murray in the Quarterfinals. This resulted in a collective gasp from the Indian tennis fans considering the impact that Murray is capable of. The British tennis star was considered one of the best in the business, with his quality gameplay and inch-perfect accuracy.
However, Mirza seemed confident going into the encounter stating that she did not feel any “extra pressure”.
“I don’t feel any extra pressure. I just feel as responsible every time I step on the court, whether at the Olympics or Grand Slam. It’s very tough. If you have to win the tournament you have to win everybody. You have to hope for the best. I’ve been saying this for one year, every match will be tough in the mixed. It’s great to get that win in straight sets. Anything is possible in a super tie-break,” she said as quoted by First Post.
The confidence certainly reflected on the pitch, as the Indian duo pulled off a spectacular 6–4, 6–4 triumph against the two Britishers. The contest held at the Olympic Tennis Centre ended in one hour and seven minutes, as the players dominated on the back of some fine work at the net and excellent returns of serve. The significance of the triumph lies in the fact that it handed India two chances to win a medal at the Rio Olympics. A win in their next match virtually assured them of atleast a silver by reaching the final. Even a loss would have resulted in a bronze medal play-off along with another chance at winning a medal.
The confidence of the Indian duo was at an all-time high, as evident from Sania’s remarks following the triumph against the British duo, where she broke down the game plan.
“We still think we can improve as every round becomes tougher from here on. Played two amazing champions today and we look forward to playing champions, whoever it is, tomorrow. We had a gameplan, we saw their videos. Had to stick to it and try to keep Andy out of it. We wanted to make him play the uncomfortable shots. He’s obviously the best in the world. We had to try and bring him in. My return was coming good for me. Whenever he did play we had to play to his weakness. He was serving and volleying,” she said as quoted by DNA.
“No matter what happens I know I was the one who’s going to be attacked. That’s what happens when you’re a girl. You obviously expect the ball is going to come to you as a guy always serves better and stronger. You have to be ready. We wanted to put pressure on the girl especially. She just won one point in the first two games. That played on her mind I think. We played better than yesterday,” added Sania.
The Indian duo were set to face Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram of the US in the semis, with spirits extremely high after the win. However, this immense positivity seemed to have resulted in a negative impact, as Sania and Bopanna lost 6-2 2-6 3-10 to the Americans, after dominating the first set. Venus could not believe that they had won, going on to jump with joy and disbelief after the match was over much to the anguish of the Indians.
The positivity in the camp had crumbled following the meek surrender. A nation that seemed set for a silver at one stage now looked doubtful with regard to its prospects for even a bronze. As Mirza and Bopanna took to the court for their bronze medal play-off against Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, their intent seemed to be missing with a sense of discomfort in every move.
The duo went down 6-1, 7-5 in just 71 minutes, failing in their bid to give India its first medal of the Rio Olympics, with the barren run in tennis since 1996 going on to prevail. Mirza seemed heartbroken following the defeat, struggling with words to convey her emotions.
However, the tennis star enjoys an opportunity to make amends in the Tokyo Olympics, where she will be a part of the Women’s doubles with Ankita Raina. The lessons from the collapse in Rio might well enpower Sania to go all the way in the upcoming event.
