Bopanna clarifies on Twitter his 'no' to Paes

BANGALORE, INDIA: On paper, Indian men's doubles tennis team offers a great chance at the upcoming London Olympics.

The doubles team, however, runs the risk of having only one top-ranked player, with freshly-crowned French Open mixed-doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi (who won the trophy partnering with Sania Mirza) having already declined to team with Leander Paes.

It prompted multiple Grand Slam doubles winner Paes to toss in the name of Rohan Bopanna, currently ranked 13 in international doubles, even as he was open to playing with any other player that All India Tennis Association (AITA) picked to partner him at the XXX Olympics in London.

On Monday morning, when Bopanna also refused to play with Leander, it naturally shocked many. He, apparently, visited the AITA to inform authorities of his decision.

While many reasons were attributed to, first, the non-conformation of Bhupathi and now, the much-younger Bopanna, the latter has made an attempt to clarify his stand. The platform of his choice to come clean: Twitter.

In a tweet at around 2.40 pm (IST) on Monday, Bopanna (from his hashtag @rohanbopanna) just put up this shortened URL: http://bit.ly/KGtOgL. There were no statements or words that accompanied the link.

Do you think the 32-year-old player has justified his decision?