At the Paris Olympics 2024, India’s tennis campaign ended swiftly, with the nation’s representatives eliminated after just one day of competition. Sumit Nagal and the men’s doubles team of Rohan Bopanna and N. Sriram Balaji were defeated in their opening matches, marking a short-lived participation for Indian tennis.
Sumit Nagal was the first Indian player to compete, facing Frenchman Corentin Moutet. Despite a strong baseline game from Nagal, he struggled to overcome Moutet’s unpredictability, ultimately losing in a three-set match. The final score was 2-6, 6-4, 5-7, with the match extending over two hours and twenty-eight minutes.
In the Tokyo Olympics, Nagal had previously lost to Daniil Medvedev in the second round. His current performance started promisingly, with a break lead in the deciding set, but he was unable to maintain his advantage and lost to Moutet, who mounted a comeback.
India’s Tennis Campaign at Paris Olympics 2024 Ends After One Day with Early Defeats
Later in the day, the men’s doubles team of Bopanna and Balaji also faced defeat. They lost to the French pair of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Gael Monfils with scores of 5-7, 2-6. Monfils, who had replaced an injured teammate, proved to be a formidable opponent, and the partisan crowd at Roland Garros further boosted the home team’s performance.
This Olympic appearance could very well be the last for 44-year-old Rohan Bopanna in multi-sport events, as he has announced his retirement from the Davis Cup. The doubles match was intense, with several extended baseline rallies that forced Balaji out of position and disrupted the Indian team’s strategy.
The French team’s tactical approach, involving long rallies and powerful strokes, eventually overwhelmed Bopanna and Balaji. The Indian team struggled with unforced errors, and the match ended with a final error from Bopanna, sealing their early exit from the tournament.
Nagal’s match against Moutet was marked by a series of long and challenging rallies, with both players employing various tactics. Moutet used underarm serves and drop shots to disrupt Nagal’s rhythm, which proved effective in the tightly contested match.
Despite a strong fightback in the second set, where Nagal managed to level the match, he faltered in the decider. Leading initially, he lost his edge and struggled with critical points, ultimately allowing Moutet to secure the win. Moutet will now face either Alex de Minaur or Jan-Lenard Struff in his next round.
