Roger Federer has backed Indian stars Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to mount a strong challenge for his doubles gold medal at the London Olympics. Federer and Swiss team-mate Stanislas Wawrinka took gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing and will be among the favourites for the top prize in this year&#39;s event, which gets underway at Wimbledon on Saturday. But world number one Federer, who clinched a record equalling seventh Wimbledon singles title earlier this month, knows a potential semi-final meeting with seventh seeded duo Bhupathi and Bopanna would pose a serious threat to his hopes of winning doubles gold again. <img alt="Federer" src="/imagedata/2012/jul/federer27july.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 620px; " /> Roger Federer. Photo: AFP Bhupathi and Bopanna start their Olympic campaign against Belarus&#39;s Max Mirnyi and Alexander Bury after Bhupathi refused to be teamed with Leander Paes following a falling-out with his compatriot. Paes and Vishnu Vardhan open against Robin Hasse and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Federer said: &quot;I would love to play any of the Indian teams, but Bopanna and Bhupathi are closer to us in the draw. &quot;I don&#39;t know why they (Bhupathi and Paes) didn&#39;t play together, but Bopanna is a very good player himself and I&#39;m sure on grass they will have a chance to do very well.&quot; Although Federer&#39;s main focus will be winning a first gold in the singles, the 30-year-old would love to defend his doubles title after experiencing Olympic success four years ago. &quot;Obviously winning the Olympic gold with Stan in Beijing was one of the most incredible feelings I&#39;ve ever had on a tennis court,&quot; added Federer, whose first doubles match alongside Wawrinka in London is against the Japanese duo of Kei Nishikori and Go Soeda. &quot;Hopefully, we can do well again. We haven&#39;t played much doubles of late. Thank God we are seeded, that helped us out a little bit in the draw.&quot;

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna are considered a force to be reckoned with, according to world no. 1 Roger Federer.

Federer backs Indian stars to shine at London Olympics

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Federer backs Indian stars to shine at London Olympics

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