Indian tennis team coach Balachandran Manikkath meets Rafael Nadal at the Paris Olympics village

Indian tennis team coach Balachandran Manikkath recently caught up with the legendary tennis player Rafael Nadal at the Paris Olympics 2024 Athletes' Village ahead of the opening ceremony. Manikkath has been in the tennis circuit for more than three decades and has mentored players such as Rohan Bopanna, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sriram Balaji, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Yuki Bhambri, and many more.

A former national doubles champion and mechanical engineer, Manikkath is currently working as the chief coach at the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy (RBTA) in Bengaluru. He also played a pivotal role in the “Doubles Dream of India” project.

“Doubles Dream of India” is a value addition project for Indian doubles players ranked within the top 200 of the ATP Doubles Rankings. The main goal of the project is to provide ideal support, including the support staff to these players to enhance their gameplay and improve their chances of winning multiple ATP Challenger and Tour titles.

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Can Balachandran Manikkath help India bag a second tennis Olympic medal in Paris 2024?

Balachandran Manikkath, who has a brilliant and deep understanding of technical and strategic aspects of the sport, is currently traveling with Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji for the Paris Olympics 2024.

44-year-old Rohan Bopanna, who recently became the oldest doubles player to secure the World No.1 rank and bag a Grand Slam title in doubles at the Australian Open 2024, is all set to become the oldest tennis player of the Indian team at the Summer Games.

Bopanna has decided to partner with World No. 67 Sriram Balaji at the Games in Paris. His decision to go ahead with Balaji was taken after the latter and his Mexican partner Miguel Reyes-Varela put up a strong challenge against Bopanna and Matthew Ebden at the 2024 French Open.

Since the introduction of the sport at the 1924 Olympic Games, India have fielded 21 players at the Summer Games. However, the country has won only one medal so far — Leander Peas’ bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Ace veteran player Rohan Bopanna, along with Sriram Balaji, would be aiming for the nation's second tennis Olympic medal at the Games in Paris.