There were mixed fortunes for the Indians at Wimbledon.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza, the French Open champions, crashed out of the mixed-doubles, losing 6-3, 6-1 to Australia’s Paul Hanley and Russia’s Alla Kudryavtseva in just 50 minutes.
The Indian pair, who had received a first-round bye, were expected to make it to round of 16, but they never looked the part on Saturday.
Mirza was broken decisively in the first set before both partners lost their serves in the second. Not only did Hanley and Kudryavtseva return better, they were also sharper around the net, out-hustling the Indians on Court 5.
On neighbouring Court 6, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek completed a straight-sets victory over Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(5).
In the early parts of both matches, which began at the same time, the Indians in the crowd had situated themselves between the courts and had craned their necks this way and that.
Into the second set, Paes and Stepanek had their undivided attention, and though the third went to a tie-breaker, a round-of-16 place was never in doubt.
Another Indian in the pre-quarterfinals was Rohan Bopanna, and he didn’t even have to step on court. Bopanna and Jie Zheng, recipients of a first-round bye, received a walkover from Marcel Melo and Vera Zvonareva.
Keywords: Wimbledon
It is surprising that Paes and Bhupathi have made nearly $6m in lifetime
prize money solely by paying doubles, when neither of them is a top 100
singles player. Same goes for Sania. This is like cricketers who are not
good enough to get into the national team, who make money by paying some
IPL matches. All of them have reached the end of their careers, so the
bickering has started.
This is a lesson to both Bhupathi and Sania. They both should focus on the game instead of politics. I strongly question Sania's tennis basics as she lacks strong serve, forehand and backhand. Despite all drawbacks, she was able to win French open. Instead of improving her game, she thinks she is the world number one. Come on Sania, show your game in Singles. As a matter of fact, none of Indian players are strong Singles except Somedav. I don't see any Indian representation in singles circuit. I hope both Bhupathi and Sania learn lessons from the defeat and prepare for Olympics. I wish them the best.
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