Olympics 2012: Heart wanted it, but limbs stopped, said Bhupathi

The moist, red eyes conveyed more emotions than words could. It was the end of the road for Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna in the Olympics. After a shattering loss to Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau, the duo had to turn up at the media box.

“I guess, I’ll have to die without an Olympic medal,” said the 38-year-old Bhupathi, winner of 12 Grand Slam titles, almost choking on his tears.

His eyes had paled into red; had he broken down? Bopanna lightened the mood, saying that it was a result of “some chilli powder”.

As one would expect, Bhupathi was asked if he would have another shot at an Olympic medal at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. His answer was as conclusive as it could get. “I’ll be supporting Rohan from the stands. I’ll definitely not be playing in Rio,” he said.

The scoreline 3-6 4-6 tells its own story. Bhupathi had ceased to be an inspiration here. Bopanna took control in the first match, but against the Frenchmen he too sank along with his senior partner.
“We came here with ideal preparation. The mind wanted it, the heart wanted it, but the limbs stopped, so unfortunately we had the bad end of the stick,” said Bhupathi, summing up the debacle and taking full responsibility for the loss.

Ranked No 7 here, the Indian pair failed to control the errors. While Bhupathi and Bopanna committed two double faults, the Frenchman erred just once. The Indians also committed five unforced errors as opposed to three by Gasquet and Benneteau.