Indian Tennis Squad at 2024 Paris Olympics: Schedule, Medal Hopes and History

For long, Tennis has been labelled a sport of the 'elite'. And although it was part of the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, the sport was suspended after the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris due to a tussle between International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the definition of amateur players.

This conflict persisted, and tennis did not return to the Olympics until the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where players were allowed to compete regardless of their age or amateur status. Incidentally tennis was played as a demonstration sport in the 1968 and 1984 Summer Olympics, with an U-21 age limit.

Whether in the Open Era or the Amateur Era, the USA is the leading country in tennis at the Olympics with 21 gold medals. However, Great Britain has more overall medals with a total of 43.

The tennis event at the Paris 2024 Olympics is scheduled to take place from 27th July to 4th of August at the iconic Stade Roland Garros.

This will be the first Olympic tennis event on a clay court since the 1992 Barcelona Games which were held at Tennis de la Vall d'Hebron. Additionally, it will be the first Olympic tennis tournament on a natural surface and the first held at a Grand Slam venue since the 2012 London Olympics.

It would feature a total of 172 players competing in five medal events - men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

All singles matches at the Paris 2024 Olympics will have best of three sets, with a standard tiebreak (first to seven points) used in each set, including the final one. In all doubles competitions, third set will be replaced by a match tiebreak (first to ten points) to decide the winner.

Indian Tennis squad

Indian tennis will be represented by a total of three players: two in men’s doubles and one in men’s singles. The men’s doubles team will consist of Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji, while Sumit Nagal will compete in men’s singles.

Medal hopes

Rohan Bopanna, who became the oldest player to achieve the World No. 1 ranking and win a Grand Slam in men’s doubles earlier this year, will also be the oldest member of the Indian Olympic team. At 44 years old, he will aim to secure a medal in what could be his final Olympics.

Bopanna has partnered with World No. 67 Sriram Balaji for the Paris Olympics. Bopanna’s decision to choose Balaji is based on the fact that Balaji and his Mexican partner provided a strong challenge to Bopanna and Ebden when they faced each other at the French Open earlier this year.

Another player on the tennis squad competing in men’s singles is Sumit Nagal, marking his second Olympics after Tokyo 2020. He became only the third Indian after Zeeshan Ali and Leander Paes and the first in 25 years to win a men’s singles match at the Olympics. He narrowly defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in a three-set match in Tokyo 2020

While an Olympic medal would be a tough ask from Nagal, the Indian professional will be buoyed by some of his recent wins, prominent amongst which was his victory over World No.27 Alexander Bublik. Following that upset and the Chennai Open victory, Nagal broke into the ATP Top 100 for the first time.

Nagal secured his spot at Paris 2024 by winning the Heilbronn ATP Challenger Cup in Germany, which improved his rankings. He further improved his position by winning the Perugia Challenger in Italy, achieving a career best ranking of 68.

The 26 year old will be only the second Indian player, after Leander Paes, to qualify for consecutive Olympic Games in the men’s singles event. Paes had previously competed in three consecutive editions from 1992 to 2000.

Schedule of Indian Tennis Players (Indian Standard Time)

Sumit Nagal (Men’s Singles):

• 27th or 28th July (First Round): 3:30 PM or 10:30 PM
• 29th or 30th July (Second Round - If Qualified): 3:30 PM or 10:30 PM
• 31st July (Third Round - If Qualified): 3:30 PM or 10:30 PM
• 1st August (Quarterfinals - If Qualified): 3:30 PM or 10:30 PM
• 2nd August (Semifinals - If Qualified): 3:30 PM or 10:30 PM
• 3rd August (Bronze Medal Match - If Loses in Semifinals): 3:30 PM
• 4th August (Gold Medal Match - If Wins in Semifinals): 3:30 PM

Rohan Bopanna, Sriram Balaji (Men’s Doubles):

• 27th or 28th July (First Round): 3:30 PM
• 29th July (Second Round - If Qualified): 3:30 PM
• 30th July (Third Round - If Qualified): 3:30 PM
• 31st July (Semifinals - If Qualified): 3:30 PM
• 2nd August (Bronze Medal Match - If they lose in Semifinals): 3:30 PM
• 3rd August (Gold Medal Match - If they win in Semifinals): 3:30 PM

History of Indian Tennis Players at the Olympics

Indian Tennis has come full circle in Paris 2024, marking 100 years since the first Indian tennis contingent participated in the 1924 Paris Olympics. This milestone highlights a century of Indian tennis representation at the Olympics. SInce 1924, Indian has been represented by 21 players.

India has won only one Olympic medal in tennis, courtesy of Leander Paes’ bronze in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. However Paes could not replicate his success in the men’s doubles when he partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi, as the duo lost the bronze medal match in 2004 Athens Olympics.

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna also came agonizingly close to winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics but ultimately lost their mixed doubles match.