New Delhi, July 29: Indian tennis players Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji were knocked out in the men’s doubles in the first-round match at the ongoing Olympic Games 2024 in Paris after they lost to French duo Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Sunday.
Bopanna and Balaji lost 7-5,6-2 to the French pair. Bopanna,44 was competing at the Olympics for the third time in his career while his partner Balaji made his debut at the tournament.
Bopanna, who is world no.4 in men’s doubles tennis, was the oldest Indian athlete at Paris 2024. Having announced his retirement from the Davis Cup in September 2023, it was probably the last time he represented India in the multi-sport event.
On the same day, Sumit Nagal, who represented India in men’s singles tennis at Paris, was also knocked out by French Corentin Moutet in the first-round match. He lost 2-6,6-4,5-7 to Corentin on Sunday. India has won one Olympic medal in tennis history when Leander Paes won a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics, in 1996