Indian doubles ace Leander Paes, who is representing the country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio 2016 with Rohan Bopanna, will face the Polish pair of Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot in their first round men’s doubles match, it was revealed today.
Together, Paes and Bopanna have only played one match on the professional circuit this year – at India’s Davis Cup rubber against South Korea in Chandigarh, with the two winning the doubles tie as India cruised to an easy victory.
The tried-and-tested pair of Kubot and Matkowski, on the other hand, finished runners up at the clay court Estoril Open in Portugal.
Interestingly, Paes and Matkowski are closely connected – having partnered each other in the men’s doubles on the professional circuit – first in 2014, and recently in 2016. The pair won the Malaysian Open title in 2014, beating the formerly top-ranked pair of Jamie Murray and John Peers in the finals.
Having returned to a partnership this year, the two reached the quarter-finals of the French Open, losing to eventual runners-up Bob and Mike Bryan.
Most recently, the pair faced an early exit at Wimbledon, losing to mixed doubles trophy winner Henri Kontinen and his men’s doubles partner John Peers of Australia.
There has been speculation that the Indian pair do not see eye to eye; this has been rubbished by both players.
