6. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna
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After losing out in the 1st round in the Men’s Doubles, Rohan Bopanna had another chance of winning a medal, this time teaming up with Sania Mirza in the Mixed Doubles. The duo began their campaign on a positive note, defeating the Australian pairing of Samantha Stosur and John Peers in straight sets 7-5 6-4 in the Round 1 stage before inflicting a 6-4 6-4 defeat on Andy Murray and Heather Watson of Great Britain.
With one more win assuring them of a medal, Mirza and Bopanna faced up against Rajeev Ram and Venus Williams in the semifinals and after winning the opening set 6-2, seemed in pole position to win. But the American pair made a strong comeback into the match, winning the second 6-2 and then clinching the match tiebreak 10-3 to book their place in the final.
The Indian duo had yet another opportunity to win a medal – a bronze – when they took on Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. But courtesy a few service errors and missed opportunities, the Indian duo lost 1-6, 5-7, thereby settling for 4th place.
After the match, Mirza got emotional and even stated that she wasn’t sure whether she would feature in Tokyo 2020. For the sake of Indian tennis, let’s hope that she does do that and wins the elusive medal in Japan.
