Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the men’s doubles after losing straight sets 4-6, 6-7. In the match that lasted One hour 40 minutes, Paes and Bopanna were broken four times in the match including a disappointing three times in the first set. To make matters worse, all these breaks were in a row and took away any early momentum the duo had created with a break of serve.
The combination were always playing with fire after Paes arrived in Rio only on the morning of August 4. He later had to quash allegations of him coming late and not wishing to play roommate with Bopanna.
The controversies leading upto the first round match also did not do any good to the pair as there was a distinct lack of on-court chemistry between them.
Ironically, at 43 Paes has possibly played his last Olympic match and too bad that it ended in whimper within two days of his arrival in the Brazilian city despite the bang that it created due to the off-court events in the lead up to the quadrennial extravaganza.
Questions being raised about Paes’ delay in joining the squad after playing World Team Tennis and subsequent reports of not getting a bed in the earmarked appartment in the Games Village only made the matters worse.
