India can win medals in Tennis at the 2028 and 2032 Olympics, believes Yuki Bhambri

India Tennis players were never known for their records in singles events, but the nation has produced quality doubles players in recent past, which includes the likes of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza most recently. 

However, India’s journey at the Olympics has not been memorable, until Leander Paes claimed a historic bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games in the men’s singles edition. But, things have not gone well following then, with India failing to win a single medal till now.

Only three Indians participated at the 2020 Tokyo Games – Sumit Nagal in the men’s singles event and Sania Mirza/Ankita Raina in the women’s doubles edition. India failed to get past the round-of-32 in each of the two events, with Sumit Nagal being the only Indian to win a match.

But, Indian Tennis star Yuki Bhambri believes that India can win a medals at the 2028 and 2032 Olympic Games, in doubles or mixed doubles events. In fact, the men’s duo of Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi narrowly missed out on a bromze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, while the mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza/Mahesh Bhupathi were also knocked out at the same stage at the 2016 Rio Games.

"It's hard because it's a world sport. Tennis is probably 2nd most popular sport in the world behind football. For Indians, the big thing is that we could represent the nation in Olympics. And you have to also look at who you are competing against with players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic,” said Yuki Bhambri, to ANI.

"We have come close (to win a medal at Olympics) in doubles and mixed doubles. Going forward, if the stars of the future will get opportunities. Then maybe we could see India winning medals in tennis in the 2028 and 2032 Olympics," he added.