Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Rohan Bopanna disappointed by lack of clarity over doubles cut

Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina are confirmed tennis players to participate in the women’s doubles draw at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. There will be no room for Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan with a total rating of 113, unless there are several withdrawals. If the duo fails, it will be the first time that India will not have a men’s doubles team at the Summer Games since 1992.

But the lack of clarity over what is the cut-off for the Olympics makes it irksome for Bopanna. “I’ve been asking what the cut is for the last five days, nobody really knows,” Bopanna said at Wimbledon. “I don’t know why the ITF is not releasing the official cut. Some say we are two out, some say four out. Technically we’re in the cut. The combined ranking of the last team is 204. But this time the ITF has made singles a priority ahead of the doubles ranking. So guys like (Matwe) Middelkoop and (Robin) Haase, who have a combined ranking of 76, are not in. ATP doesn’t know, ITF doesn’t know and it is impossible for us to plan then.”

These are indeed difficult times for Olympics with COVID-19 lingering in Japan and an ever-changing set of rules around handling it. On Thursday, it was announced no fans will be allowed to attend the Games – a first in the events’ history.

The attempt by the organisers is to have fewer athletes as possible but to ignore tennis doubles specialists in favour of the singles entrants is not the right way to go, feels Bopanna. “Singles ranking is given priority because of COVID protocols, you only want a set number of athletes there,” Bopanna said. “It’s like saying if you’re going for a long jump let the same guy do the high jump… It’s two different disciplines at the end of the day. Players have worked years to get their rankings high enough to represent their country at the highest stage. It is definitely frustrating,” said the World No 38.

Mirza, who partnered Bopanna at the 2016 Rio Olympics and at Wimbledon where they lost in the third round, finds the wait “frustrating”. “Our real chance for a medal at Olympics or the Asian Games is the mixed doubles,” said Mirza. “It’s something Rohan and I came close to winning the last time. It’s frustrating not knowing how far out you are.”

“We’re playing together after so long but we obviously have the level. We’re playing against the top teams and we’re right there. I would like to know what the chances are because mixed (doubles) is something that we have a medal-winning shot at,” added Mirza who played her first major after 2020 Australian Open.