After his historic run at the Australian Open 2024, Rohan Bopanna has his eyes set on the Paris 2024 Olympics. But the oldest Grand Slam champion in tennis history has shut down the chances to play the mixed doubles at the biggest sporting event.
Following his impressive run at the Australian Open, Bopanna was asked about playing doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The newly crowned world no. 1 expressed his excitement to play the men’s doubles.
But despite winning the Asian Games 2023 gold medal with Rutuja Bhosale, he shot down the chances of playing the mixed doubles. He said:
“Definitely, it’s going to be great that we have a representation in the men’s doubles. Who I’m going to play with is yet to be confirmed. June is the deadline, so I need to pick a partner. Mixed doubles will not happen because there is no girl ranked high enough to qualify. The only event currently guaranteed is men’s doubles.”
Why Rohan Bopanna won’t play mixed doubles at Paris 2024 Olympics
The reason behind Rohan Bopanna not playing the mixed double at the Paris Olympics 2024 isn’t his unwillingness to play for India, but rather the rules that stop him from doing so.
As per the National Olympic Committee (NOC), only 15 teams can directly qualify for the mixed doubles. And to make matters more difficult, these qualifications are decided by the combined ranking of both players.
While Bopanna is ranked number one in the men’s doubles rankings, India’s best-ranked women’s doubles player is Prarthana Thombare. Her current ranking is 166, and with the cut-off for the event being June 10, it seems highly unlikely that we’ll see Bopanna in action in mixed doubles.
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