Tennis player Rohan Bopanna announces retirement after losing to French opponents in Paris Olympics

Rohan Bopanna announced his retirement from Indian tennis after he lost to the French pair of Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the opening round during the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

After an hour and 16 minutes into the match, the duo of Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji lost the match 5-7, 2-6.

The 44-year-old also ruled out any chance of him taking part in the Asian Games in Japan as he announced his retirement plan. 

It must be mentioned that in 2016 in Rio, Bopanna missed out on winning a medal in mixed doubles with Sania Mirza after finishing fourth. Meanwhile, in 2024, even though he had the chance of making amends, the French opponents defeated them.

Revisiting old memories when he marked his debut for India at the age of 22, Bopanna expressed pride for being able to don the national colours.

"This will definitely go down as my last event for the country. I totally understand where I am and now, I am just going to be enjoying the tennis circuit as long as that goes," Bopanna said, as quoted by PTI.

"This is already a big bonus for where I am. I never even thought that I'll be representing India for two decades. Right from 2002, making my debut and 22 years later still getting to represent India. I'm extremely proud of that,” Bopanna added.

Bopanna is amongst the most decorated tennis players India have ever had. Back in 2017, he won the French Open mixed doubles title with Gabriela Dabrowski.