The Olympics along with the FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events on earth and it is a unique experience to be a part of it. It is no longer the case that tennis players see the Olympics behind the Grand Slams and Davis Cup in the pecking order. They value a medal and it shows in the quality of the field.
Take for example Andy Murray. He won gold at London four years back and that gave him a huge confidence boost before winning his first Grand Slam later that year.
Looking at the men’s field in Rio, I think Novak Djokovic will still be the man to beat. Murray will come in fresh on the back of his Wimbledon triumph and both do well on hard courts. For Roger Federer, it is the only thing missing in his CV but that won’t make a lot of difference to his place in the history books. It will only be a welcome bonus. He had a good run at Wimbledon but age is catching up. As he will be coming off a break, he should be fresh.
The most important thing at the Olympics is that the initial matches would be best of three. So if you are not playing well it will be difficult as you won’t have the time to play yourself into the match.
In the women’s side of the draw, Serena Williams will be the favourite once again. She has been in the finals of all three Slams this year and comes into the tournament after winning Wimbledon.
As regards India’s chances, it is great that the confusion and chaos that happened during London 2012, in the men’s doubles event, have been avoided.
It is good to have certainty. Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna have not played together apart from the Davis Cup rubber recently and could go into the tournament a bit underprepared. The competition will be very tough. We need to keep our fingers crossed and hope for some luck with the draw.
Our best chance of a medal will be the mixed-doubles event with Bopanna and Sania Mirza. Finally, I would like to congratulate Paes for what will be his seventh Olympics. It is a tremendous achievement.
(As told to S. Dipak Ragav)
