Rohan Bopanna's top 10 ranking in the men's doubles has secured him a direct entry to the Rio Olympics, making him eligible to choose his Indian partner. However, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) will still have a significant say in who gets to represent India in Rio in August, as India will only be sending doubles teams.
Bopanna is at No. 10 in the latest rankings released at the end of the French Open, even though he and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea had lost to Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the quarterfinal last Wednesday. Players in the top 10 of the men's doubles get a direct entry into the Olympics.
The AITA selection committee will meet in Delhi on June 11 to pick teams for the Olympic Games and the Davis Cup; India play their Davis Cup second round tie against South Korea in Chandigarh from July 15 to 17.
The Rio Olympics selection, however, will be the one that is most awaited. Under the International Tennis Federation (ITF) qualification system for the Olympics, any doubles player ranked 10 or better gets a direct entry for the doubles event in Rio as long as their nominated partner has a recognised international singles or doubles ranking as on June 6. The second pre-condition is that the top 10 doubles player and his partner be formally "nominated" as a doubles team by their national association - in this case the AITA.
One possible partner for Bopanna is Leander Paes, despite his dip in form over the past few years. Paes' latest individual doubles ranking is 46. Paes and his Polish partner Marcin Matkowski had reached the men's quarterfinals of the French Open.
A trickier situation for India will, however, arise in the mixed doubles, where a decision will need to be made on who should partner World No.1 Sania Mirza: Paes or Bopanna? Paes cannot be given an entry into Rio through the mixed doubles event as qualification rules require that players can only compete if they are competing in either men's or women's singles or doubles.
Having won the French Open with Martina Hingis last week and three mixed-doubles Grand Slams in 2015, Paes may appear to be the frontrunner, but Bopanna says he too forms a strong pairing with Mirza.
"We get on really well as a mixed doubles team, not only the International Premier Tennis League but wherever we have played we've always had a great team rapport and we've played well together," he had told ESPN last week.
Still, Bopanna believes the decision must be left for Mirza to make, considering she is the top-ranked player in the world. "I think she should get that much respect as a player, whoever she wants to play with," he had said. "Whether it's me or Leander, that decision has to go to her."
All of which brings AITA into the picture. The tennis association -- and Indian fans -- would want to avoid a repeat of the drama that was seen in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. At that time, AITA had first picked Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to play the men's doubles. But the association was forced to send two teams after Bhupathi and Bopanna, who were regular partners on the circuit, refused to team up with Paes. Paes had finally paired with Vishnu Vardhan at the London Games. They had lost in the second round.
The AITA must confirm the entries of their eligible players to the ITF by June 16. Both Bopanna and Mirza have got direct entries into the Olympics mens and women's doubles competition by virtue of their rankings. As of the latest rankings, Mirza is joint world No.1 in the women's doubles with her partner Martina Hingis.
The deadline for entries to the Olympics mixed doubles competition is set for August 9, on the eve of the mixed doubles event in Rio. The Olympic qualification rules state that "The ITF will select mixed doubles teams taking into account the recognised international singles and doubles computer rankings of 6 June 2016." Only two teams per country are allowed to take part in the Olympic mixed doubles competition.