India face major embarrassment as tennis campaign ends in a single day at Paris 2024 Olympics

New Delhi: It took just a single day for India’s campaign in lawn tennis to end at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics. Competing in only men’s singles and doubles categories in Paris, India’s journey ended before it could even start. On the first day of action on Sunday, both Sumit Nagal and the doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji lost their respective first-round matches at the Roland Garros Stadium.

The unseeded pair of Bopanna-Balaji lost their men’s doubles match 7-5, 6-2 to local favourites Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in just 76 minutes. Earlier in the day, world No. 80 Nagal crashed out after losing a hard-fought opener against France’s Corentin Moutet. The world no. 80 Indian gave a tough fight to the world no. 68 Frenchman but went down 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in a little under two and a half hours.

This was only the second time Nagal and Moutet faced each other. The Indian ace ran out the winner when they last locked horns in an ATP 250 clay court event in Marrakech, Morocco in April.

The unseeded Indian failed to better his Olympic record in his second Games appearance. He reached the second round of the men’s singles event at Tokyo 2020.

Heartbreak on debut for Balaji

Ahead of the opening match, News9 caught up with Balaji and his coach in an exclusive chat where both seemed confident of going the distance in the French capital. However, it didn’t take long for Balaji to get a reality check as his dreams were shattered on his Olympic debut.

If the Indian pair was competitive in the first set, it was the opposite in the second. Despite conceding the first break in the fifth game, the Indian duo broke back instantly. After a series of solid service games, the French duo took the set with a decisive break towards the end.

The local favourites continued to pile the pressure, claiming an early break off Balaji’s serve. Monfils-Vasselin showed their experience by pressing the pedal and clinched another break to complete the victory.

While Balaji suffered a heartbreak on his debut, Bopanna suffered an embarrassing exit in his third Olympic appearance. The 44-year-old is the oldest pair in the Indian contingent.

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 Paris 2024 Olympics: India’s campaign lasted just a single day with defeats in men’s singles and doubles categories.  Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today