Indians at Wimbledon 2015: Rohan Bopanna gunning for glory, Sania Mirza aims at Career Slam

With just a couple of more days left before the beginning of the annual Championships at Wimbledon, here’s a look at the Indian team for the event, their preparedness and their prospects.

Rohan Bopanna

Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea are in fine form at the moment

Being the player with the most convincing results in recent weeks, Rohan Bopanna enters the Championships as the best Indian bet. He and partner Florin Mergea have a title and a runners-up finish to their credit, not to mention their Masters win at Madrid earlier this season. They will be seeded ninth in the draw.

Bopanna has been able to produce some of his best tennis when it comes to playing on grass courts, which is his favourite surface and complements his game very well. The last time he reached the quarterfinals or better at a Slam was in the 2013 Wimbledon, where he partnered Edouard Roger-Vasselin to an unlikely dream run in their first tournament together.

Interestingly, it was also the result that took him to the pinnacle of his career- the world no.3 rank. Entering another Wimbledon with great confidence and momentum on his side, Bopanna could possibly spoil many a dream and could realise his own too.

First Round vs.Tim Smyczek/Jiri Vesely

Leander Paes

Leander Paes and Daniel Nestor have a tough task in front of them

Laurels keep haunting this man- Leander Paes. With 700 match wins and 100 different partners being the recent ones, he does not cease to hunt for more. Seeded eleventh along with Daniel Nestor, Leander enters Wimbledon with not many great results.

They form probably one of the oldest teams in the entire field. With innumerable records and invaluable experience in between them, the veterans continue their quest for another Slam. Their chances, though, are not very good with them not being able to perform well in the recent past. Yet, their results seem to have bettered from being bad in their initial clay court matches to being better in the later stage of the clay court swing and the grass swing, but not how it looked when they first teamed up before the 2013 US Open..

First round vs.Dusan Lajovic/Viktor Troicki

Mahesh Bhupathi

Mahesh Bhupathi and Janko Tipsarevic have paired up for this year’s Championships

Another Indian veteran Mahesh Bhupathi also features in the draw. He is playing with former world no.8 Janko Tipsarevic. They have gained entry using protected ranking. Bhupathi has been trying to play at some tour events, but with little success. This could be a tough draw to navigate for the two comeback men.

First round vs. Robert Lindstedt/Jurgen Melzer

Purav Raja

Purav Raja will be playing in his third Wimbledon

The other entry into the main draw is qualifier Purav Raja. Qualifying for the third time in his career, Purav Raja will play with Fabrice Martin. The two have had good results this season, including a runners-up finish at the Zagreb Indoors ATP 250 event. Despite occasional good results, their inconsistency, as has been the case with many of Raja’s partnerships, is a cause of concern. If they are able to win a match or two, it would do a world of good for Raja and the partnership. Interestingly, they open against a team of former Champions.

First round vs. Frederik Nielsen/Jonathan Marray (WC)

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza has a very good chance at winning her first Grand Slam doubles title with Martina Hingis

The sole contender in the Women’s doubles category is Sania Mirza. The world no.1 is seeded no.1 with partner Martina Hingis. The two have had a good season so far. The clay court swing did slow down their juggernaut, but it is likely to gain steam in the grass court swing and be back to full capacity in their favorite hard courts.

They are among the firm favourites to win this title. Their half of the draw features some of the toughest teams including Australian and French open Champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova, French open runners-up Yaroslava Shvedova and Casey Dellacqua, Australian Open runners-up Jie Zheng and Chan Yung-Chan and the Williamses,

Interestingly, Sania has played with most of the above mentioned players, enjoying success in varying degrees. With a disappointing semifinal loss at Eastbourne this week, they would like to do better in order to maintain their ranking as well as to boost their prospects at Singapore.

First round vs.Zarina Diyas and Zheng Saisai

Singles players disappoint

In stark contrast to the heavyweights in doubles are the single players. Three of them, including the seasoned Somdev Devvarman entered the qualifying draw. The top ranked player from India, Yuki Bhambri, fell in the first round. Unseeded and facing lower ranked Italian Matteo Donati, Bhambri could not live upto expectations.

Despite having played two preparatory events prior to this appearance, he could not find his rhythm on grass courts, which was evident from his early loses in all three events. Having escaped the injuries that hindered his progress in recent years, he has played a continuous season so far. With two challenger runner-up finishes and moving in close to his career high ranking, Bhambri is on a steady steady upward climb, but one that is agonisingly slow.

Somdev Devvarman, in trend with his form this year, lost in the very first round. The only respite was debutante Saketh Myneni. Ranked around 200 and making his first appearance at Roehampton, Myneni created an upset of sorts by winning against 159th ranked Peter Gojowczyk, a former world no.79. Continuing his good form, he troubled eventual qualifier and former pre-quarterfinalist Kenny de Schepper in the second round before losing 9-7 in the third and deciding set. ,

The Mixed doubles draw is not yet made and there will surely be plenty of Indian action. This Wimbledon, each one will be searching for a different goal, ones that could have a huge impact on their career.

While Bopanna will look for a career defining result, Paes will aim to establish his relevance. Bhupathi plays for a comeback while Raja would look to enter the ATP tour on a regular basis. Above all, Mirza will look to hoist the Mixed doubles trophy, the one that is needed to achieve a career Grand Slam and enter and elite league of tennis greats, including our own Bhupathi. Mirza will also aim for her first women’s doubles Grand Slam title with Hingis.