Will India Witness Paes- Bhupathi Doubles Again?

Bangalore: The drama in Indian tennis will end tomorrow when the All India Tennis Association (AITA) will announce its final team for the London Olympics. Tomorrow is also the deadline for submission of the names of the players in the team for the men's doubles event.

While the tennis association wanted Leander Paes to be paired with Mahesh Bhupathi, the players have not spoken to each other since last November. Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bhupathi had written to the tennis association to say he did not want to play with Paes but, they buried the hatchet and represented India in Beijing.

On Friday, the AITA had decided that it will send one men's doubles team to London which will comprise of Paes and Bhupathi. However the rules allow India to send two teams for the event. Bhupathi wrote to the tennis association, declining its offer, saying "I have already told the All India Tennis Association (AITA) that I will not be available to play the Olympics if I am paired with Leander," reported NDTV.

Tennis association then moved on to approach Rohan Bopanna to partner with Paes. He too refused, saying "Having played alongside Leander Paes only twice during my career, I recognize that as a team we are under-prepared for the demands of the Olympics and, in good faith, I could not accept AITA's offer that we play together."

Bopanna and Bhupathi suggest that they have been playing well together and should be sent as one team and Paes should get a different partner.

(WIth agency inputs)