Rohan Bopanna to pair up with Sriram Balaji in Paris Olympics, confirms AITA

The All India Tennis Association (AITA), on Thursday, made it official that Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji will pair up in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The AITA also stated that coach M Balachandran and physio Rebecca Van Orshagen would accompany the team as the support staff.

"We are proud to announce that Rohan Bopanna and N. Sriram Balaji have qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024! With Coach Mr. Balachandran Manikkath and Physio Ms. Rebecca V. Orshaegen by their side, we're ready to make a mark on the world stage," the AITA wrote on X.

The announcement from AITA came after much speculation about Bopanna's men's doubles partner for the Paris Olympics.

Bopanna qualified for the Olympics as a top-10 doubles player. He has been in phenomenal form. The seasoned campaigner attained the world no. 1 ranking this year and won the Australian Open grand slam.

Now standing at the fourth spot, Bopanna had maintained silence all along about who would be his partner. Besides Balaji, Yuki Bhambri was also in the race as the second-best-ranked Indian doubles player.

44-year-old Bopanna had played in the Davis Cup partnering with Bhambri and the Asian Games.

But the star player decided to leave the matter to AITA.

Bopanna, in the past, partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi and Vishnu Vardhan in the Olympics.

So far, India won one medal in tennis at the Olympics, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by Leander Paes.

Only Bopanna and Sania Mizra came close to repeating that feat. At the Rio Olympics, Bopanna and Sania reached the mixed doubles semifinal before losing against Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram.