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High fives and smiling faces as Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes return to court

Leander Paes, who reached Chandigarh on Tuesday, had his first proper training session with Rohan Bopanna on Wednesday.

Rio 2016 Olympics, Rio Olympics, Rio Olympics 2016, Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Paes Bopanna, Bopanna Paes, Sports Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna inspecting the court in Chandigarh. Kamleshwar Singh

For a little more than 30 minutes, as Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna played a practice match together against Saketh Myneni and Vishnu Vardhan, India’s Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali and non-playing captain Anand Amritraj barely took their eyes off the court. It wasn’t that the tennis was so good. But more importantly, they were observing each and every on court moment with keen interest.

This was the week when the All India Tennis Association (AITA) hoped they would succeed in getting Paes and Bopanna on the same page before they travel to Rio for the Olympics. The ugly selection saga threatened to spoil the mood of the Olympic-bound tennis contingent once again. But the smiling faces on the grass courts of the Chandigarh Club pleased Ali and Amritraj. They looked satisfied with what they saw.

Off court, there were high fives, some banter and talks of respect. Paes, who reached Chandigarh on Tuesday, had his first proper training session with Bopanna on Wednesday. And this week is the only time the duo will be together before they head in opposite directions once again. On Monday, Paes will leave for Europe while Bopanna will travel to Canada before the two meet in Rio in August. So Saturday’s doubles rubber is the only time they will play as a team.

Paes

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“We both are playing at the professional circuit. You can look at it however you want. I have won four grand slams in the last 18 months and I am in good shape too. I was doing some fitness in London. I am playing in some tournaments after this in Europe for two weeks and after that I play in World Team Championships for three days, which I have not missed in last seven years. So I guess I will have some practice before Rio. We are going to have a chat about that this week also,” Paes said.

Paes has partnered six different partners in men’s doubles this year, including Australia’s Sam Groth and Poland’s Marcin Matkowaski. The 43-year-old has reached two finals and two semi-finals, which also included a title win in the ATP Busan Challenger in May along side Groth. The one title was not enough to stop his rankings taking a plunge, as he dropped from 41 to 59 in the world.

Festive offer

Paes is confident his indifferent form on the tour won’t matter at the Olympics. He reiterated that, in himself and Bopanna, India has the best doubles team. “It’s a chilled and relaxed relationship for us (him and Bopanna). We had some high fives and some good moments during practice and it’s fun. When it comes playing for the country, we put our best foot forward and the best team forward. Without a shadow of doubt, we are the best team out there at this point. I think Rohan has lots of respect for me. I have tremendous respect for him,” Paes said.

The French Open mixed doubles champion said the stories of issues between him and Bopanna are played up. “We played a great tie at his home town Bengaluru where we came from two sets behind. That was a huge rubber. So we play well and sometimes, there is always a bit of silliness there. For me I am the senior statesman and I like to pull the team together. Maybe, I was not here but I believe there was little bit of silliness that the talk was blown out of proportion,” said Paes.

First uploaded on: 14-07-2016 at 00:32 IST
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