The Indian contingent released the list of 117 members set to represent India in the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024 starting on July 26. Only three players Sumit Nagal, Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji are representing badminton discipline in the 33rd Summer Olympic Games and hope to end India's drought for medals in sport.
India's record in tennis at the Olympics is not a pleasant one. India's only medal in tennis came during the 1996 Atlanta Games as the fans eagerly waited for the second in the upcoming Paris Games.
Sania Mirza came close to winning the medal in the 2016 Rio Games but lost her mixed doubles bronze playoff match with partner Rohan Bopanna. Apart from Sania, the legendary Mahesh Bhupati also lost the men's doubles bronze match with partner Leander Paes during the 2004 Athens Games.
So, who is the only Indian tennis player to win a medal in the Olympics?
Leander Paes was the first and only Indian tennis player to win an Olympic medal.
Paes, at the age of 23, stunned the tennis world by winning the bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games. He claimed the Indian contingent's only medal in 1996 and became the third Indian to win an individual medal after Noram Pritchard (1900) and Khashaba Jadhav (1952).
Very few imagined a medal in tennis for India as Paes ranked 126th before entering the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Paes kicked off the men's singles campaign with a stunning first-round win over the 11th-seeded Richey Reneberg and then defeated alternate Nicolas Pereira in the second round.
Paes further stunned the world by beating the no.3 Thomas Enqvist in straight sets 5-7, 6-7 in the third round. The Indian youngster continued his dream run with another dominant win over Italy's Renzo Furlan to reach the semi-final where he was drawn to clash with the legendary world no.1 Andre Agassi.
Agassi, the two-time grand slam winner at the time, was surprised when Paes took the first set to a tiebreaker. But the American ace survived an upset with a 7-5 win in a tiebreaker and then knocked out Paes by clinching the second set by 6-3.
In the match for the bronze medal, Paes faced Fernando Meligeni of Brazil. Paes lost the opening set by 3-6 and was trailing in the second set but made a sensational comeback to take the match by 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. He scripted history for India by ending India's 44-year-old wait for the individual medal with a first-ever medal in badminton.
