Caught in the crossfire between two stubborn superstars , Indian tennis faces a litmus test at the London Olympics. As the contingent of seven gears up to join the race for precious metals at the fabled All England Club of Wimbledon, the onus lies on Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes to restore the country's reputation by letting their rackets do the talking.
Paes, Bhupathi and Sania Mirza apart, there will be four first-time Olympians at the London Games in the form of Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman, Rushmi Chakravarthi and Vishnu Vardhan.
It's easily India's biggest ever tennis team for the quadrennial Summer Games, but does bigger necessarily mean better? If one were to be logical and dispassionate, India have a realistic chance of bagging a medal in just two events: men's doubles (Bhupathi-Bopanna ) and mixed doubles (Paes-Sania ).
The others - wildcard entrant Somdev in men's singles, Paes-Vardhan in men's doubles and Sania-Rushmi in women's doubles - will have their task cut out. Somdev underwent shoulder surgery in January and hasn't played competitive tennis in eight months.
To expect the under-prepared player to plunge straight into the Olympic cauldron and fight for a medal in a star-studded field is like asking for the moon. There's not much hope in women's doubles, either.
Sania, who like Paes and Bhupathi has developed into a doubles specialist, has had a fair bit of success with different foreign partners. Unfortunately, there's no Indian who can match up to Sania's standards and lend her a helping hand on the women's Tour.
With her doubles ranking stuck just outside the cut-off mark for direct qualification, Sania needed a wildcard to get in the Olympics and have a shot at mixed doubles glory. Someone had to be paired with her in women's doubles, and the veteran Rushmi happened to be the lucky one. Which brings us to the redoubtable Paes, arguably India's most accomplished doubles player of all time.
The problem is, he has made one enemy too many. Neither Bhupathi nor Bopanna wanted to be paired with him in London, even at the risk of not going to the Olympics. Isolated he may be among his fellow doubles specialists , but every time Paes has faced a revolt, he has outperformed his challengers, like at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships.
He remains the best bet for a medal, even at the age of 39! It's a pity that the five-time Olympian and our only tennis medallist gets rookie Vardhan as his partner . Like Bopanna, who was Paes' first choice, Vardhan has a big game, but he has not played with Paes before and is untested at the game's highest level.
One should not rule out surprises when Paes is in the frame, but this one looks a bridge too far for the Miracle Man of Indian tennis. Paes should be happy that the AITA has at least nominated him for the mixed doubles, ahead of a legitimate claim from two-time Grand Slam champions Bhupathi and Sania .
Without a doubt, mixed doubles represents India's best chance for a medal simply because in a field of 16, just two victories will ensure the team of a bronze, at least. The worrying fact is, Paes and Sania haven't played together since the 2010 Commonwealth Games and both are right-court players .
With Paes busy playing World Team Tennis in the US, they won't get more than three-four days to train together ahead of the Olympics. Clearly, there are obstacles to be overcome for Paes and Sania, but they are not insurmountable.
The ones who will be under maximum pressure are Bhupathi and Bopanna. Having revolted against AITA's decision to pair them with Paes (first Bhupathi, then Bopanna refused), arguing that they have prepared for the Olympics by playing together for six months, it's time for the Bangalore boys to walk the talk. After all, they didn't quite set the ATP Tour, or Wimbledon, on fire, did they?
THE CONTENDERS
Somdev Devvarman (Men's singles)
He climbed to a career-high 62nd in the world exactly 12 months ago, becoming India's best-ranked singles player since Paes rose to No. 73 in 1998. A dip in form, followed by a shoulder surgery in January which has kept him out of the game for seven months, has pushed his ranking down to No. 337.
Thanks to a singles wildcard, the 27-year-old will be making his Olympic debut. Had he been fit to play two events, the Asian Games and CWG gold medallist would have been an automatic choice to partner Paes in doubles.
Mahesh Bhupathi & Rohan Bopanna (Men's doubles)
Ranked 15 and 14, respectively, in the individual doubles list, Bhupathi and Bopanna qualified for a direct entry into the London Games by virtue of being the No. 7 team in the world. This will be Bopanna's first Olympics, while Bhupathi will be competing in his fifth Games.
Since deciding to play together in 2012, Bhupathi and Bopanna have won one title ( Dubai) en route to compiling a 20-13 win-loss record. In the three Grand Slams so far this year, the 38-year-old Bhupathi and 32-year-old Bopanna have lost in the first round at French Open, second round of Wimbledon and third round in Australian Open.
Leander Paes & Vishnu Vardhan (Men's doubles)
The contrast among these first-time partners can be grasped from the fact that Paes is currently ranked 5th in men's doubles, while the 24-year-old inexperienced Vishnu is No. 208 on the ATP charts. Also, as Vishnu gears up for his maiden Olympics, Paes will be appearing in an Indian record-equalling sixth Games. Paes, who won the Australian Open with Czech partner Radek Stepanek in January, had the right to choose his partner by virtue of qualifying directly for the Olympics, faced a revolt from Bhupathi and Bopanna, and had to settle for Vishnu as his partner.
Sania Mirza & Rushmi Chakravarthi (Women's doubles)
Another lopsided pairing, with Sania being ranked 12th in the world and Rushmi No. 472. The 25-year-old Sania is an accomplished doubles player, having won 14 titles. The 34-year-old Rushmi has loads of experience, but all her exploits have come in the domestic circuit and ITF-level tournaments. In fact, she holds the Indian record of winning 45 ITF women's circuit titles of which 34 came in doubles. Sania and Rushmi did play doubles together and even won an ITF meet in Britain, way back in 2004. Since then, though, Sania rose through the ranks but Rushmi failed to make the grade.
Leander Paes & Sania Mirza (Mixed doubles)
They are the country's top male and female doubles players, with eight Grand Slam mixed titles between them, albeit with separate partners. Though Paes and Sania won the mixed doubles bronze in the 2002 Busan Asiad and gold in 2006 Doha Asiad, they haven't played in any Grand Slam together as Sania paired up with Bhupathi.
In their last appearance as a team, the two had a disappointing loss to a Scottish pair at the 2010 CWG. Neither will be short on motivation in London, as Sania looks to erase memories of a painful Olympic debut in Beijing while Paes guns for a second Olympic medal.