India’s tennis campaign at the Paris Olympics ended abruptly on Sunday, with Sumit Nagal and the men’s doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji suffering opening-round defeats to French challengers.
Nagal, making his second Olympic appearance, fell 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 to Corentin Moutet in a hard-fought battle. Despite a strong start, Nagal struggled to maintain his momentum against Moutet’s unpredictable style of play, which included underarm serves and effective use of drop shots and slices.
In the doubles match, Bopanna and Balaji went down 5-7, 2-6 to Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Gael Monfils. The French duo, buoyed by the partisan crowd, dominated the baseline exchanges and denied Balaji opportunities to finish at the net.
Bopanna, 44, hinted that this could be his last multi-sport event for India, having already announced his retirement from Davis Cup.
Nagal and Moutet have a history of close matches, with three of their last four encounters going to three sets. Nagal had the upper hand in their most recent meeting in April, but Moutet proved too strong on this occasion.
The Indian team’s exit marks the end of their Olympic tennis campaign, with India having won only one Olympic medal in the sport, a bronze by Leander Paes in 1996.
