Naysa Shrivastava, Pune
Rohan Machanda Bopanna, Indian tennis player specialising in doubles took an early exit from Paris Olympics 2024 and confirmed his retirement on Tuesday. He will not participate in the Asian Games 2026 in Japan but will continue playing for Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour events.
He along with N Sriram Balaji lost their opening round-matches in Paris olympics 2024 at Stade Roland Garros losing 7-5, 6-2 to the French team of Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. “This will go down as my last event for the country. I totally understand where I stand and from now on I am planning to enjoy the tennis circuit as long as it goes,” said Bopanna.
He also talked about his experience regarding representing India and mentioned how he had no idea that he would get a chance to represent India for two decades. “I made my debut in 2002 and 22 years later I am still getting a chance to represent India. I am very proud of it.” He remembered his fifth-rubber victory against Ricardo Mello in Davis cup tie against Brazil in 2010 and considered it as his top moment while playing for India.
He gave some insights about the other matches he played before and said “It was the best team atmosphere, when it comes to Hesh as the captain along with the team camaraderie. Somdev (Devverman) and I played singles while all of us were figuring it out. It was a good experience. I won the first men’s doubles Grand Slam and became the world’s no.1 tennis player.” Furthermore, he thanked his wife Supriya. He also reminiscenced talking about his win of five-setter doubles in Bangalore against Serbia.
Bopanna has initiated a support program in which he provides training to India’s double players and is ready to join All India Tennis Association (AITA) in the future. “I will surely look at these positions when I’ll be ready to attain it and I don’t want to do it in between matches because it will be difficult for me to focus and commit properly,” he said. In 2016, he was very close to winning the medal but finished 4th with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles events. He was not disappointed as he is retiring and recollected his memories from the games he had played before and was proud of his journey as a tennis player.