Doubles is India's best bet in Paris

Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza will once again shoulder India's hopes in the men's and women's singles in the French Open tennis which got off to a low-pitch start here today.

It is the doubles which remains the best bet for the Indians, especially after the reunion of old warhorses Leander Peas and Mahesh Bhupathi and the rise of Rohan Bopanna with Pakistani partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.
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Leander Paes (left) with Mahesh Bhupathi

None of the star players like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters were scheduled to play on the opening day.

For India, Somdev and Sania have been the only representation from the country in the Grand Slam singles for some time now and this year, too, they will be donning the familiar hats.

Paes and Bhupathi joined hands for the Australian Open this year in a bid to achieve a career Grand Slam and went on to reach the final.

The two have been playing together since then, though their tune-up to the French Open has been far from ideal. The two entered in only one tournament, the Rome Masters, but crashed out in the second round after receiving a bye.

History, though, favours the former World No 1 pair. Their first Grand Slam win came here in 1999 and they repeated the feat in 2001, after which they decided to part ways.

While for Bhupathi it was the last doubles title here, Paes's continued his love affair with the clay major, winning it with Czech Lukas Dlouhy in 2009 and following it up as a runner-up the next year.