Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna subdued Britain's Andy Murray and Heather Watson with remarkable ease to breeze into the mixed doubles semifinals of the Rio Olympic Games here. The fourth seeded Indian pair dominated the quarterfinal contest, winning 6-4 6-4 in just 67 minutes.
The nation of 1.3 billion people was glued to television sets as early as 5am, following the fortunes of Aditi Ashok, who after three days, was lying second and in line for an unprecedented medal in golf at the Olympics.
Indian duo of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna entered the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event of tennis competition at the Rio Olympics with a straight-set win over Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and John Peers in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. Sania and Bopanna, who are being touted as India's medal hope at the Olympics, won their opening round match 7-5 6-4 in 73 minutes.
In the 18 years that she has been on tour, Sania Mirza was the standard-bearer for tennis in the country. Never before had an Indian player dominated from the back court with such conviction. Deepti Patwardhan Salutes the Incomparable Sania Mirza.
Defending champion Rohan Bopanna went down fighting in the thrilling doubles opening round game at the third edition of Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune, on Wednesday. Playing alongside local boy Arjun Kadhe, the ace Indian player Bopanna dominated the game initially. However, after winning the first set convincingly, the Indian duo couldn't manage to continue the momentum further in the games against French pair of Benoit Paire and Antoine Hoang as they lost the match 3-6, 7-5, 10-7.
The apprehensions attached with a new tennis concept have disappeared as the top international players have embraced IPTL, feels Mahesh Bhupathi, whose league will feature a marquee match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the capital this season.
The Indian tennis players are "excited and available" to travel to Pakistan for the upcoming Davis Cup tie but want to be assured that all the security measures are in place before they reach Islamabad.
A mix of interesting events, coupled with big, shocking results, in the sporting world, grabbed headlines last week. From Manchester United being stunned by Watford to lose their third consecutive match to Nico Rosberg taking the World Championship lead from Mercedes teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton by clinching the Singapore Grand Prix. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games were brought to a close inside a packed Maracana Stadium on Sunday evening. Not before, we witnessed some enthralling action.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
The marquee clash between a vintage Roger Federer and classy Rafael Nadal, the legends of the game will be awaited keenly by the fans as the third leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) begins in New Delhi on Thursday.
Seeking to clear the air around the negative perception created following comments of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza, the AITA put on record how it aggressively pursued the case of Bopanna and Divij Sharan for entry into the Tokyo Olympics.
Sania Mirza on Sunday created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the World No 1 rank.
Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj says the country needs to develop grass court players.
India on Monday got the backing of Switzerland in its bid to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Monday was also the first time in more than two decades that India had more than one player in the main draw of a Grand Slam singles, with Prajnesh Gunneswaran losing to world number five Daniil Medvedev in an earlier match.
In a significant development, Sania Mirza has agreed to play in the upcoming Asian Games, two days after All India Tennis Association announced that they would allow top players to miss the Incheon event, keeping in mind their requirements on the professional circuit.
India won the opening singles to take a 2-0 lead over South Korea on Day 1 of the Asia/Oceania Group-I tie against South Korea, in Chandigarh, on Friday. After young Ramkumar Ramanathan made a winning Davis Cup debut, scoring a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-5 (15-15) victory over Seong Chan Hong in the first singles, Saketh Myneni got the better of Yong-Kyu Lim 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 5-2.
Ramkumar Ramanthan gave his all but it was not enough to stop Laslo Djere from winning his first Davis Cup match as India trail Serbia 0-1 in the World Group Play-off tie, in Kraljevo, Serbia, on Friday.
No Indian Davis Cup squad has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964 and in that tie, held in Lahore, India had won 4-0.
From Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee and to big names in Indian sport and politics, the applause pours in for the Hyderabadi tennis ace.
India's top tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi, Saketh Myneni, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Sriram Balaji have been granted wild card entries into the doubles draw of Chennai Open, the organisers announced on Monday.
World No 10 Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni suffered a shock straight set mauling at the hands of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell as India were left trailing 1-2 against New Zealand.
The Tamil Nadu-based Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who recently made his Davis Cup debut and is expected to lead India's doubles challenge in coming years, is spending time hitting at private courts and handling the marketing of their family resort in Pondicherry.
Paes,partnering David Rikl, romped into the second round of the Australian Open doubles tournament. Bhupathi and Joshua Eagle of Australia failed to make it.
India saw a day of mixed fortunes at the Australian Open on Saturday as both, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna won their respective doubles and mixed doubles matches to enter the third round of the opening Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Sushil Kumar quashed talk of retirement and insisting that postponement of Tokyo Olympics has given him a very good shot at qualifying for his fourth Games. The 36-year-old was struggling to make the cut for the Olympics, postponed to 2021 owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the latest rankings issued on Monday, the left-handed Sharan is ranked 50th after gaining a place. He had reached the final of the last three tournaments he participated in, winning the ATP 250 European Open, while ending runner-up at Challenger events in Brest and Tashkent with different partners.
Only one of world tennis' Big Four -- Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal -- will feature in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier Tennis League, which has shifted base to Hyderabad.
Trying hard to hold back tears, an emotional Sania Mirza was at loss of words in explaining the defeat with partner Rohan Bopanna in the mixed doubles event of the Rio Olympic Games on Monday. The fourth seed Indian duo of Sania and Bopanna lost the bronze play-off to Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek 1-6 5-7. Sania, who is already 29 and has recoverd from three career-threarening injuries, knows that it was her last and best chance to win an Olympic medal.
Sania Mirza's was officially named for the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Friday. The Hyderabadi lady is only the second tennis player to be nominated for the country's highest sport honour.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Tennis great Vijay Amritraj says there should be least controversy with regards to India's doubles combination in Davis Cup since the doubles match matters only when there are 'even singles matches'.
Sania Mirza became the first Indian to climb to the top of the WTA doubles ranking after she teamed up with Swiss great Martina Hingis to claim the Family Circle Cup title on Sunday.
Beset by injuries to singles players and 'mistrust' between the Rio-bound doubles players, India would expect young Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni to rise to the occasion when they face Korea in the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie, starting, in Chandigarh, on Friday.
'The dressing room is a precinct that abounds with all the complexities that make up human nature -- and the unpredictable consequences that can emerge from interpersonal relationships. 'A cursory study of cricket history throws up interesting (and some hugely surprising) examples of conflict between players from the same team,' says Ayaz Memon
The women's singles is wide open, Arantxa said, but picked Halep as favourite.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances