Tennis in India is all about the doubles. Apart from Leander Paes’ bronze medal in men’s singles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Sania Mirza breaking into the top 30 and Vijay Amritraj’s top ranking of 16 – best ever singles ranking by an Indian, there haven’t been any major achievements in singles for the country to boast of.
While big trophies in the singles has eluded Indian players so far but they have done considerably well in doubles. Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi teamed up for a record-breaking partnership in the 1990s to start a golden era in Indian tennis that was later taken forward by Sania Mirza and Rohan Boppanna. These incredible athletes, with their constant success at the highest level, have kept the sport in focus in a cricket-mad country and made it a doubles powerhouse.
This year India ushered into a new glory at the majestic Wimbledon championships. A veteran in Paes, a tennis beauty in Sania and a shining star in the making – Sumit Nagal – gave India a memorable outing at the All England Club.
First it was Sania who created history by winning her first Wimbledon title, claiming the women’s doubles crown with her legendary partner, Switzerland’s Martina Hingis, and becoming the first woman in the country to win a grand slam in doubles.
The very next day, a vintage Paes clinched his 16th Grand Slam trophy, winning the mixed doubles event with legendary Hingis after a dominating win over Alexander Peya and Timea Babos.
The seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair drubbed the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team 6-1, 6-1 in the lop-sided summit clash which was over in just 40 minutes.
It was Paes’ eighth mixed doubles title and second with Hingis. The 42-year-old Paes has eight men’s doubles crowns in his Grand Slam collection.
Later in the day, it was Sumit Nagal who won the junior boys doubles trophy. The 17-year-old Nagal and his partner Nam Hoang Ly, seeded eighth, defeated American-Japanese fourth seeds Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final in an hour and three minutes to complete a treble and capped an incredibly successful Wimbledon for India.
A country of billions where tennis is still not the most followed sport, three Wimbledon titles will go a long way in resurrecting its fortunes in the golden era of Indian tennis comprising of the likes of Paes, Bhupathi, Boppanna and Sania.
Source….www. ibnlive.com
Natarajan
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