Rio Olympics: Sania-Bopanna go down in mixed doubles semis

Rio de Janeiro The Indian duo of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna went down fighting in the semifinals of the mixed doubles tennis event to the US team of Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram at the Rio Olympics in RioIndias Sania Mirza L and Indias Rohan Bopanna react after winning a point against Britains Heather Watson and Britains Andy Murray during their mixed doubles quarterfinal tennis match at the Olympic Tennis Centre of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro PicPTIThe Indians won the first set quite comfortably before squandering the lead and going down 62 26 310 in one hour and 17 minutes at the Olympic Tennis Centre here on SaturdayThe Americans thus went into the final and assured themselves of at least a silver The Indians will now have to contest the playoff for the bronze medal against Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic on SundayVenus and Ram will take on fellow Americans Jack Sock and Bethanie MattekSands for the gold medal Jack and Bethanie defeated Lucie and Stepanek 64 76 3 in the other semifinalIndia have taken only one medal in tennis in the history of the Olympics The legendary Leander Paes clinched a bronze medal in the mens singles category at the 1996 Atlanta OlympicsDespite the loss Sania and Bopanna are determined to recover from the disappointment and go for the bronze medal and grab a piece of history for themselvesTen minutes after you lose a match like that its difficult to be positive but in tennis we dont get many chances We dont get two chances in a week usually We are fortunate to have a chance at another medal Sania said after the matchIt was unfortunate that results were not in our favour We have to do the right thing and recover as soon as possible mentally and physically probably more mentally than physically and try and come out there and have another shot at a medal she addedWe have to try and get some sleep and put some food in our bodies and try and recover for tomorrowBopanna who praised Venus for her gutsy performance is however determined not to let Saturdays disappointment affect his performance in the bronze medal playoffBoth of the teams are going to be in the same situation Its the first time in our tennis that we have another chance to take a shot at a medal There are so many emotions going on in my mind But as tennis players we have to take it in our stride the Bengaluru lad assertedThe Indians imposed their domination in the early stages before Venus and Ram staged a superb comebackBopanna stood out with his excellent returns and pinpoint placements at the net Sania also played well with some intelligent service and good returnsVenus and Ram took their time to settle and find their groove They were somewhat subdued in the opening set and were totally outplayed by the IndiansBut a fired up Ram led the US comeback in the second setThe 32yearold of Indian origin came up with a much better performance in the second set and was excellent with his serves and ground strokes as well as with his returns at the net which rattled SaniaBopanna a bitIn the opening set Bopannas first game was taken to deuce by the Americans before the Indian produced his first ace of the match to hold his serveIn the next game Indians put pressure on Rams serve before forcing a break at 040Sania then held her serve to give the Indians a 31 leadThe Indians again put pressure Venus serve to force another service break in the seventh game and take a comfortable 52 leadSania and Bopanna then held serve in the next game to win the first setThe second set went with the serve until the Americans forced a breakpoint off Sanias serve their first in the match in the fourth gameBoth sides fought desperately to produce a brilliant display of tennis as the Indians saved as many three break points before the Americans finally forced a break of serve to take a 31 lead in the setThat seemed to provide some much needed morale booster to the Americans and Ram comfortably held his serve in the next game to increase the lead to 41SaniaBopanna held serve in the next game but the Americans took a strong 52 lead with Venus successfully holding her serveThe Indian duo then saved two set points in the game but could not prevent the Americans from clinching another service break off Sanias serve to take the second set and level the scoresThe Indians took a 32 lead in the tiebreaker before Venus levelled the scores with an excellent cross court winnerBopanna then rammed an attempted return into the net to give the Americans the lead Ram produced another excellent return slamming the ball into the gap between Sania and Bopanna in the middle of the court to increase US lead to 53 before an ace from Venus stretched it to 63The Americans continued to dominate the exchanges thereafter before romping to victory