A long-running feud in Indian tennis erupted again after Leander Paes criticised India's mixed doubles team at the Rio Olympics on Saturday in Delhi after partnering Saketh Myneni in a loss against the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez in the Davis Cup World Group Play-off.
Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza, India's representatives in the mixed doubles event at the Rio Olympics, finished fourth after losing in the semi-final and the third-place playoff.
"I can very clearly say that in this Olympics and last Olympics we didn't put the best team forward. This Olympics, the mixed doubles was a great opportunity," said Paes, according to PTI. "What more does a man need to do than win four Grand Slams in 14 months?"
Paes went on to accuse his competitors of being jealous. "They [his competitors] might not understand what it takes to win 18 Grand Slams and play seven Olympics. Some competitors, you give them 10 lifetimes, they will still not be able to achieve that. Instead of working hard, they want to knock me down."
Both Mirza and Bopanna however seemed to respond to Paes' comments on Sunday through separate tweets, though without naming him directly.
It is not a new conflict in any way and dates back to the 2012 Olympics in London. Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi refused to partner Paes in the men's doubles event. Ultimately, the All India Tennis Association sent two men's doubles teams to London, with Paes partnering Vishnu Vardhan and Bopanna partnering Bhupathi.
To appease Paes, they paired him with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles draw. At that time, the Indian female tennis star had expressed her displeasure at the arrangement and had hit out, saying that it was humiliating to be used as bait for Paes.
This year, controversy erupted again before the 2016 Olympics after Rohan Bopanna made his preference for Saketh Myneni as his doubles partner known. However this time, the AITA did not concede to his request and partnered Paes and Bopanna together. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna were partners in the mixed doubles event.
This bad blood followed to Brazil as reports emerged that Paes had delayed his arrival to Rio de Janerio and had not practiced with the Indian team in the run-up to the tournament. It was also reported that Paes had not been allotted a room in the Games Village and that he had refused to share a room with Bopanna.
Ultimately, Bopanna and Paes crashed out in the first round of the competition.
Now with the latest volley of accusations flying around, the conflict does not look like it will end anytime soon.
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