Former India Davis Cup player and the coach of the Davis Cup team and an Asian Games team silver medal winner Nandan Bal says that playing in the Olympics is all about “playing for the nation and glory. One must be a patriot to do it for the country.”  Bal, who has been coaching in Pune since his retirement days, feels that India’s men’s doubles pair Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji, have a better chance of winning a medal at the Paris Olympics than Sumit Nagal, who has qualified for the men’s singles.

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Q. The Paris Olympics are around the corner. Tennis was reintroduced at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, marking an essential watershed moment in the sport's history and the beginning of a new era.

A. For any athlete in any sport, to be known as an Olympic champion would be the most significant milestone in that athlete’s life. So, for tennis to be included in the Olympics and then called the Olympic champion, I think that's amazing.

Q. Many great players - before 1992 - have missed out on an Olympic medal.

A. The people who missed out on Olympic fame were the Australian gang of players like Ken Rosewell, Rod Laver, John Newcombe and Roy Emerson; they deserved the Olympic medal. They would have cleaned up the singles, doubles, and almost everything before them.

India had the extraordinary Jaideep Mukherjee and Premjit Lal. They were up there. There was every possibility of a singles medal, with Ramanathan Krishnan in the top three or four. Vijay Amritraj and Anand Amritraj were up there. So, all of them were up for some glory for sure.

Q. When you mention an Indian tennis player at the Olympics, it has to be Leander Paes. He has played seven Olympics, starting in 1992 in Barcelona and ending in 2016 in Rio. He is the only Indian to win a bronze medal in 1996 Atlanta.

A. He has had a long career, starting in the singles and ending in doubles. Leander won the bronze at Atlanta. But I think his strength has always been the men’s doubles and mixed doubles. And, sadly, he couldn't win a doubles medal. I know he came very close to doing that with Ramesh (Krishnan) in Barcelona (in the quarter-finals). And then, of course, later with Mahesh, he had a couple of good outings but never came to win a medal. That being said, he ended up winning the bronze in Atlanta even though he was not even in the top 15 singles in the world. So somewhere, I guess, he got his due.

Q. India’s men’s singles player at the Paris Olympics will be Sumit Nagal. He has had a good run in the ATP Challengers in 2023 and this year. He is ranked 72. So he has shown some spark.

A. Coming off the hip surgery, what he has done is incredible. He had been struggling before with his rankings and performances. After the hip surgery, getting into the top 100 is an outstanding achievement. And coming into the top 75 is phenomenal. So hats off to him. He and his trainers have worked very hard. Now, to play at the Olympics on his favourite surface, clay, he must feel on top of the world.

Q. There will be some expectations from Nagal. Is it not?

A. From an Indian point of view, I think, as a nation, we look forward to such events. We look forward to seeing icons in action, and we look forward to our icons performing at these events.

The European nations will probably look at the Olympics as another tournament. I wonder if European countries would attach as much importance to an Olympics as to a Grand Slam. The exception is those  that you would count on your finger  tips;   those who are in with a chance of a Golden Slam. Steffi Graf is the only player who has won the Golden Slam (the four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold in 1988).

Q. Would the draw be significant for Nagal?

A. Yes, it will all depend on the draw. He will be playing on a surface that he is very comfortable with. But that being said, 25 to 30 players will be comfortable with that surface. It’s very clearly going to be a battle. If I am not wrong, he's had a couple of wins over the top 20 players in the singles in the last two years, but I'm just not sure whether that will be enough to get to a semi-final. It will be a draw of 64, which means six matches. So, he will have to play at least four games against guys in the top 50.  The one good thing about Sumit is that he's a fighter. He won't give up, but then there are limitations to his game at the end of the day.

Q. How do you see Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji's doubles combination? Rohan chose Balaji (not Yuki Bhambri) because he is an explosive player.

A. I agree with Rohan, who will be the mastermind in the court. He needs somebody who is very explosive at the net, especially to take advantage of his serves. So Balaji is a perfect fit.

Q. To sum up, it will be tough for Nagal, but one can be optimistic about Bopanna and Balaji.

A. The chances in doubles are better than in singles. But they will not be seeded because of Balaji's ranking.  He believes that he belongs to that level. When you believe in yourself, many things can happen. You may be technically and practically perfect, but I think it takes you even further if you have that self-belief.

Sumit has done his best to get into the Olympics in singles. Nobody has done that in India for many years now, so it's a great effort on his part.