The 18-time major victor lashed out at reports that he had refused to stay in the athletes’ village in Rio and did not want to share a room with Bopanna. Seven is the Indian record, one Paes said he was proud to have in his name. “I feel a little sad for Rohan”.
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“Not many people understand what it takes to win one Grand Slam”.
“Whatever had happened off the court is a different issue and I don’t want to talk about that anymore”. United States doubles player Rajeev Ram then began imitating Paes just to tease the Kodava. “Who doesn’t”, a visibly crestfallen Chandela said before proceeding to see the finals of the competition with her physio Nikhil Ajit Latey, which was won by Virginia Thrasher of the usa with a score of 208.
“Playing seven Olympic Games is never easy”. It is hard work, day in and day out.
The evergreen Paes was a singles bronze medallist at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
“This is the time when efforts of everyone should be to unite the team by correct understanding of Leander’s role in India’s Davis Cup Olympics and Asian Games history and his commitment to the nation over the last 25 years”, the statement added further.
In 2012, Paes partnered with Vishnu Vardhan at the Olympics, part of a feud with other prominent Indian players.
Speculation of rift between Leander Paes and his men’s doubles partner Rohan Bopanna is doing the rounds.
The duo faced Poland’s Marcin Matkowski & Lukasz Kubot – both Paes’ ex-doubles partners.
It was the first serve that did put India in trouble. Their success percentage was a mere 48 during the 32 minutes of the first set. In an engaging second set, it looked like Kubot and Matkowski would win after edging ahead 4-5, but Bopanna and Paes levelled terms and even went ahead 6-5.
Paes, who will be playing in his seventh straight Olympics, a first in tennis, checked in at the Games Village on the eve of the opening ceremony. Serving to stay in the tournament, the Indian pair won the game and then broke their opponents to make it 6-5.
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The Poles led 4-1 but Paes and Bopanna stayed in the contest, battling to earn a set point. The Indians then held onto their next two service points to make it 3-4 before getting a mini-break, making it 4-4.
