Rohan Bopanna, India's top-ranked doubles player, is clear that he needs to find a stable partner in order to win his maiden Grand Slam men's doubles title. On Friday, Bopanna and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vaselin were knocked out of Wimbledon by the unseeded British pair of Ken and Neal Skupski in four sets.
Bopanna, who reached the Wimbledon semis with Roger-Vaselin in 2013, paired up with the Frenchman only because Pablo Cuevas, his regular partner this year, had pulled out due to a knee injury. Bopanna and Cuevas had played consistently on the clay circuit where they won the Monte Carlo Open and then the quarterfinals at the French Open. Their form played an important role in Bopanna winning his first Grand Slam doubles title, when he won the French Open mixed doubles along with Gabriela Dabrowski. Playing regularly on clay with the same guy and reaching deep into the draw boosted Bopanna's confidence during the tournament.
Even though the title must have given him confidence as he arrived for the grass court season, Bopanna had to play with different partners in the lead-up to Wimbledon. He played with Ivan Dodig at Queen's and with Andre Sa at Aegon International the following week, before stitching a partnership with Roger-Vaselin, which lasted two matches. The Indo-French pair started off confidently by getting the better of the German combination of Dustin Brown and Alexander Zverev in straight sets. A day later, their hopes were scuppered by the Skupskis.
"The foremost and the most important is to have a fixed partner where we can train and practise week in, week out and really come into a tournament like this well prepared," Bopanna told ESPN on Friday. "Unfortunately Pablo Cuevas, my regular partner for the year, got injured and to find a replacement at the last minute is not an ideal situation. You play a kind of style with your partner throughout the year and try and make adjustments and see what works for you the best. And then suddenly you come to a big tournament with a new partner, then you have to adjust straightaway.
"Teams like the Skupsis, who have been playing together for a long time, understand their game so much better, they understand their partner better, which makes a big difference."
Bopanna pointed out the successful long-term alliances he had in the past that made a positive difference. Like with Pakistan's Aisam Qureshi in 2010, when they reached the US Open final -- the only Grand Slam final Bopanna has reached in this category. Then in 2015 he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second time with Romanian Florin Mergea. "Playing throughout the year makes the difference, especially when the games go to tiebreak or when we are playing close points. You understand your partner well, there is no miscommunication."
Bopanna's doubles ranking has slid more than 10 spots in the last two years. "Last year my ranking was not that high enough where there were so many partners I could choose from. It was 28 and now I am 21, which is pretty high. That is because we did well on clay. We won Monte Carlo and then Roland Garros. Clay is the first time we made five to six tournaments in a row and that made a difference. But again on grass we did not play anything. I played with three difference partners."
It is an issue that most doubles players face, the absence of a regular partner. For instance, Bopanna's former partners Qureshi and Mergea are now playing together. According to Bopanna, one big change on the doubles circuit is the presence of a lot of singles players. In a way it can both help but also hinder a player like him who only features in doubles. "Playing with a singles player there are a few challenges because they focus on their singles matches. There is no doubles practice as such. So it is a tricky situation whether to play with a singles player or with just a doubles specialist," Bopanna said.
Another trend from the past that has changed is that of a single doubles pair dominating for long -- like Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, and recently the Bryan brothers. Already in 2017, the Australian Open and the French Open have had two different pairs winning the men's doubles title. "There are really no teams like before, like the Bryans dominating every Grand Slam. Now the game has evolved, a lot of singles players are playing doubles now and that has also made a difference."
Still, Bopanna says first-timers, if they bond well, can crack it like Ryan Harris and Michael Venus did when they came together at the French Open and won the 2017 title. "It is purely those two weeks, if you can combine well with somebody. Obviously in the long run to play with one partner is the ideal situation."
As the game has evolved, Bopanna has had to alter his own approach. A serve-and-volley player, Bopanna changed his game during the clay circuit and it worked successfully. "What made the difference on clay was that I was not serving and volleying. I was serving, staying back, mixing my serves to hit a forehand and then coming in. The game styles have changed and you have to adapt. That style of play also helped me while practising with Cuevas. He is such a good clay court player and the consistency helped even my (singles) game better. Just practising with him, warming him up for his singles match, these things really have helped."