Somdev Devvarman will open his campaign against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in the Olympic tennis competition on Saturday

Hesh-Bops handed tough draw

Somdev Devvarman will open his campaign against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in the Olympic tennis competition on Saturday. The 27-year-old had received an ITF wild card in the 64-player draw graced by the likes of Roger Federer (Switzerland), Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and local hope Andy Murray. Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist, has pulled out.
In the men’s doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, and Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan have been handed tough match-ups. Bhupathi-Bopanna, seeded seventh, will face Belarusians Max Mirnyi and Alexander Bury in the first round. Bhupathi had, in fact, partnered Mirnyi to win the 2002 US Open. The unseeded duo of Paes-Vardhan will take on the Dutch pairing of Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer in the 32-team draw which includes the Bryan brothers (US), the Murray brothers and defending champions Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.
The women’s doubles pairing of Sania Mirza and Rushmi Chakravarthi, also handed wild cards, will begin their challenge against Su-Wei Hsieh and Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei.
Bhupathi-Bopanna are drawn to meet third seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic from Serbia in the quarterfinals. The going will be tougher for Paes and Vardhan, who will run into No 2 seeds Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra of France in the second round.