Rohan Bopanna to partner Roger-Vasselin next year

Bengaluru, November 24: Indian doubles player Rohan Bopanna on Friday (November 24) said he will partner World No 26 Edouard Roger-Vasselin next season.

The Kodava, who was felicitated by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association for his mixed doubles Grand Slam title with Gabriela Dabrowski at the French Open, said Roger-Vasselin was an obvious choice as the Frenchman has shifted to doubles. Bopanna partnered Pablo Cuevas for most tournaments this season. He won the Monte Carlo Masters this year as well as the Vienna Open with Cuevas. Earlier, partnering Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, he won the Chennai Open. But with Cuevas focusing on singles, Bopanna understandably had to change his partner.

"One of the key things I learnt with the numerous partner changes is that I had to completely focus on my game irrespective of who my partner is," he said on Friday (November 24). "I chose Edouard because he is now purely going to be doubles player and we can practice more with each other. I decided to find someone just to play doubles. It always helps playing with someone you have played before and we did well in that short period of time, and, of course, once again the focus is on Grand Slams and qualify for the London Masters."

Bopanna called for more Challenger events in the country. Speaking on the sidelines of the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger, he said: "When I was growing up, we did not have a lot of Challengers in India. There is nothing like playing at home, having your home support. Last week in Pune, we had two Indians in a Challenger final. And again today, one Indian reached the final. I think this Challenger plays a huge role in grooming a player and getting exposure to world class and international level of tennis, and players coming in to your home country."

He felt a combination of Futures and Challengers was a heady mix for the success of the sport in India. "I feel that the more competitions we have in India the better the players get. If each state has one Challenger and one Future, we will definitely produce a lot more players, not only trying to get into the top 100 but all the way up to 1000," Bopanna added.

Meanwhile, Bopanna and KSLTA have tied up to set up the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy at the KSLTA. It will be operational from December 1.

(With agency inputs)