India’s top ranked singles player, Sumit Nagal, will meet France’s Corentin Moutet in the first round at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, Indian doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji have encountered a tough draw as they have been slated to meet Fabien Reboul and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the first round.

Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin were doubles partners at one point of time on the ATP Tour. Bopanna now partners Mathew Ebden of Australia and the pair have also reached the number one ranking in the world.

Given that Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin have partnered in the past, the duo know each others’ game and strategic thinking very well, which could prove to be both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Bopanna is most likely playing in his last Olympics. His best result at the prestigious quadrennial Games was a fourth place finish with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

Meanwhile, Nagal will meet Moutet in the first round. The top-ranked Indian tennis player, ranked 80 in the world, has met Moutet only once on the ATP Tour and the Indian won the meeting. The players met at the Grand Prix Hassan II, or popularly known as Marrakech Open, being played in Morocco. Nagal won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the players’ only meeting in April 2024. Given that the tournament is also played on clay, it holds Nagal in good stead.

For the record, Moutet is ranked 12 places above Nagal in the ATP ranking.

However, the draw would get tougher for Nagal as he progresses. He is slated to meet World No. 6 Alex de Minaur in the second round. De Minaur reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, where he withdrew before his match against Novak Djokovic due to a hip injury.

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