"This will go down as my last event for the country": Rohan Bopanna

Star Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna pulled the curtains on his Indian career during the Paris Olympics 2024Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji suffered a defeat against Frenchs Edouard RogerVasselin and Gael Monfils in the mens doubles first round under lights at court 12 at the Paris Olympics 2024Indian tennis has been waiting for an Olympic medal since Leander Paess historic singles bronze medal during the Atlanta Games in 1996In 2016 Rohan Boppana was about to break the jinx along with Sania Mirza but finished in fourth place in the mixed eventThis will definitely go down as my last event for the country I totally understand where I am and now I am just going to be enjoying the tennis circuit as long as that goes Bopanna said ruling himself out from the 2026 Asian Games in JapanAlso ReadParis Olympics 2024 Lakshya Sen wins first match of his Olympic debut He has already announced his retirement from the Davis CupThis is already a big bonus for where I am I never even thought that Ill be representing India for two decades Right from 2002 making my debut and 22 years later still getting to represent India Im extremely proud of that he added with childlike joy in his voiceSpeaking about his top moment while playing for the country Rohan Bopanna said the win against Brazils Ricardo Mello in the David Cup 2010 will be his best momentThat is definitely the one in Davis Cup history That is by far my best moment no question that that one in Chennai and then winning that fivesetter doubles in Bangalore against SerbiaPlaying with Lee with Hesh as a captain At that time it was the best team atmosphere team camaraderie we had with Somdev Devverman and me playing singles and all of us going and fighting it out it was incredibleOf course winning that my first mens doubles the Grand Slam and becoming world No 1 I am thankful to my wife Supriya who has done so many sacrifices in this journeyBopanna has been helping Indias doubles players with his support programme and would not mind if he gets chance to be involved in the running of the A Indian Tennis Association in futureI will surely look at those positions when I am ready to do it I dont want to do it while I am still competing and travelling because then I will not be able to give my hundred percent commitment towards thatTalking about Sundays match Bopanna said Monfils presence across the court made a huge difference Monfils had replaced Fabien Reboul at the last minuteThis guy Monfils told me that it was the best doubles match that he has played He also was seeing the ball after playing that singles match earlier He was hitting the ball extremely heavy They served at an extremely high percentage even the despite that we still had our chances he saidThe fan support for the local players was immense when the Indians played on Sunday Whether it was Sumit Nagal taking on Corentin Moutet in the singles or later the doubles matchWhen Moutet was down a break the crowd even sang the national anthem to cheers their players Bopanna said it was amazing atmosphereI dont think I have played in this kind of atmosphere even in Davis Cup in India I dont think we get a synchronized kind of a crowd whos singing and jumping and cheering Ive always seen it like in Europe in Davis Cup ties or in 130 South AmericaBut the amazing part was they were extremely respectful when the tennis was being playedBalaji lost his serve at crucial times feeling the nerves but Bopanna said his partner played extremely well I told him he should be extremely proud of the way he played There are a few things he can definitely work on and take this as a great example moving forward he saidWith PTI Inputs