Rio Olympics: Marriage of convenience falls apart as Paes-Bopanna crash out in first round

Rio de Janeiro: Saying it was not his day on Saturday Leander Paes bade adieu to the Rio Games – his shortest-ever stay in the Olympics. Playing for in his record seventh straight Olympics, 43-year old Paes spent only two days in Rio before planning to fly out. Paes was more interested in creating a record in the Olympics rather than making a serious bid for the medal. But the unceremonious first round exit must be a blemish he would not have liked to have in his illustrious CV. There was no love lost between him and Rohan Bopanna and though AITA arranged this marriage of convenience, it did not last long. The Indian pair were sent packing out of the event by Polish duo of Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot, who defeated them 4-6, 6-7 (6-8) in 84 minutes. The Indian pair was never a force to reckon with. It was a scratch combination from the start and to say that medal hopes have been dashed, is total exaggeration. India got the entry because Bopanna was eligible and AITA intervened on behalf of Paes. The two played well within their limits. They were playing together for the first time at this level of competition – forget the Davis Cup against Korea. The lack of coordination was there for all to see, but that was because they have not been playing  regularly. On top of it, they were pitted against the duo which has been playing together regularly. The lack of chemistry between the Indians was very evident but both the players were civil enough to admit that they did not play well rather than blaming each other. The Indians hardly looked convincing. They led 4-3 after breaking the rival but then were broken thrice in the first set. It was the first serve that did dump the Indian pair as their success percentage was a mere 48 during the 32 minutes of the first set. Kubot then held his serve making it 5-4 before Bopanna failed to hold his serve. The Indians battled out in the second as each pair held serve till the 10th game. In the 11th game, the Indian pair broke the opponents’ serve to make it 6-5 only for Bopanna to lose his serve in the very next game making it 6-6 and taking the set to the tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker, the Polish pair managed a mini-break as they took a 4-1 lead. The Indians then held onto their next two service points to make it 3-4 before getting a mini-break, making it 4-4. However, the Indians at 6-5  lost the plot as the Polish duo reeled off three straight points, including the match-point on the opponent’s serve. "Rohan played well," said Paes adding, "It was not our day. This happens to all the players. Today we had an off day. We did not play well" Asked if he will try for his eighth Olympics, Paes said it is four years away. Bopanna was forthright saying, "I did not serve well. We have no excuse to offer."