Four days since that spectacular achievement in Hangzhou in the ongoing 2023 Asian Games. Yet, Rutuja Bhosale may not have had the time to fully grasp the magnitude of her gold medal triumph in mixed-doubles tennis, which she won alongside the legendary Rohan Bopanna. Fresh from the events in China, where India has already made history with its best-ever performance in the Asiad, the 27-year-old was rather upbeat in talking through her fabulous campaign. On her first off day since returning from Hangzhou on Monday, which included a grand welcome at the airport followed by being felicitated by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Rutuja opted to relive the journey as she touched upon her ‘shocking’ pair-up with Bopanna, the bond they eventually developed and the grand finale, where the two registered a stellar come-from-behind win to take down Chinese Taipei’s Tsung-Hao Huang and En-Shuo Liang 2-6, 6-3, 10-4.
Speaking exclusively to Hindustan Times Digital, Rutuja discussed her aspirations of participating in the Australian Open and the Olympics, highlighting the substantial support she has received from the Punit Balan Group (PBG). PBG is dedicated to fostering Indian sporting talent across diverse disciplines, and Rutuja has been in partnership with them since June of the previous year.
Here are excerpts…
Firstly, congratulations on the gold medal haul! Has it sunk in yet?
No, not yet. Still trying to process it. We finished on Sunday, travelled on Monday, met the Sports Minister on Tuesday and came home the same day. So today (Wednesday) is kind of the first day where I am a little free. So I didn’t get much time to allow that to sink in.
Did the achievement feel bigger than what the initial reaction was after coming back to India? So many people greeted you at the airport and there were videos of people dancing as well.
Definitely. When we won it, we were in China, and it felt like we made the nation proud. But I never would have imagined to come back home and seeing so many people greeting me. I knew my family was proud and happy of what I achieved, but I expected them to be there. But there were so many other people at the airport. Not only that, people in the flight, the captain, all congratulated us. That is when I slowly realised how important a medal for a country is. So yes, it was way more than what I had thought or even dreamt of.
Tell us about your pairing with Rohan Bopanna? It was obviously your first. Was there an intimidating factor at the start given his achievements and legendary status?
Until now, I had known as the legend, who has taken Indian tennis to great heights and made the nation proud, but just the fact that he chose to play with me was a shock in itself. Ankita Raina, Prarthana Thombare, me – we all are doing very well in the doubles category in the WTA circuit. I knew that one of us was going to play with him but I never thought he was going to choose me because I literally pinched myself after I heard the news. He then explained to me saying that my aggressive game style complements his game and that is why he picked me and it probably was a good decision (laughs).
Yes, it was definitely very intimidating at first. The first meeting that we had, in Lucknow, when the Davis Cup event was going on, and the team was being decided as to who would play with whom. Even then, when he was sitting across the room, it was intimidating. I mean, come on, you are Rohan Bopanna! In fact, the very first practice after we flew to China was very intimidating as well because I did not know whether I would just take instructions or can give my view as well on where I would like to serve or how I would like to play. Even for the small things I felt whether I could speak up to him.
Later, when we played our first match, after I played two matches already at the Asian Games, we didn’t get a chance to warm up together so I did not even know what to expect going into the tie. Usually after a doubles match, I give a hug to my partner whether we win or lose, but it was very awkward for me this time. How can I go and give a hug to Rohan Bopanna who is 6’3? But after a handshake, it was him who gave me a hug and things were right in place from the second match onwards.
In the last match, when he picked me up after we won, I told my mother that I was going to frame that picture because it is now my core memory.
You both play doubles all throughout the year. Is it difficult adjusting to a new partner all of a sudden with so much at stake?
It’s not difficult, but it does take some time to adjust. For me, it is very critical whom I choose as my doubles partner. I generally pick ones who are my good friends or whom I have at least known for a long time, because then it is very easy to communicate, off the court as well, and that subsequently helps in bringing that chemistry onto the court.
With Rohan that was possible because he is a very chilled person outside the tennis court. He is like the perfect person to play Mafia with, because he has that poker face and it’s truly amazing how he makes one feel so comfortable around him. So there was never that feeling of having to adjust myself accordingly. We complemented each other and that clearly showed.
In the first couple of days, you were playing singles and doubles on the same day? How difficult was that? And how difficult was it adjusting from singles to doubles in just a few hours?
It wasn’t difficult as such because I play singles and doubles throughout the year. So I am used to playing two matches a day. The adjustment wasn’t hard, the difficult part was playing three matches a day. It was really difficult on the body given the humid conditions in Hangzhou, which led to a lot of sweating. And on the opening day, with so much adrenaline rush because I was playing for my country, playing with Rohan and then I won my singles match – it all felt like a good experience, but on the next day I felt the body was tired. I had just come out of a shin-splint injury three weeks before the Asian Games and the shin was hurting again. Six sets of tennis in a day is a huge load.
September 26 was probably the most difficult day. You stuttered in the singles and women’s doubles on the same day. What did you tell yourself going into the next day for mixed doubles?
I feel it could be a blessing in disguise because I was definitely sad that day after losing in singles and doubles, but it gave me time to rest up for the next day. I worked with the physio in the evening for the mixed doubles, and took an ice bath. It was just switching off a bad day and switching on my attention for the event that was left. Everyone was anyway expecting Rohan to play well, but the fact that I was playing with him put some amount of responsibility on my shoulder as well and I had to live up to that. You can’t be playing average with the legend. I had to step up myself as well and ensure that the body was well rested. The mental side of the game is something I have been working on as well with psychologist Gayatri Vartak, and I think that really showed throughout the week.
Was there more pressure of delivering in mixed doubles thereafter with Bopanna’s shocking early exit in men’s doubles as well? What conversation did the two of you have?
It wasn’t much of an actual conversation, but more of a funny moment. We had our doubles match, the day after he lost in the men’s doubles, and the top-seed in women’s doubles also suffered an early exit. I came across the news before we went into the match, and there was some conversation about it and joked saying, “Don’t worry even the top seed in doubles lost.” I was like, “Oh what…really?” And he said: “Rutuja, it was me.” It was a really funny conversation. The first few days were a bit awkward because I was still trying to get comfortable around him. Then he spoke about the match, and how a few unlucky shots here and there made the result go the other way. He explained saying that it happens in tennis all the time and the fact that they were the top seeds (Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri) every other pair would be motivated to beat them.
Talking about the final, there were nerves for sure in the opening set, but then one service return in the eighth game of the second set and things changed completely. What happened?
I was really nervous then. I wasn’t clearly swinging. The centre court roof was closed because it was raining that day. So there were a lot of factors which got to me right from the moment when I walked into the court. It was something I have never experienced before. There was a lot of crowd, but only a handful of them were from India. So all those factors played a part. My legs were frozen, I was not swinging freely. Then Rohan came up with the idea to change sides and I went from Deuce court to Ad court to return and he wanted to take the shot for the first point and asked me to swing freely. That is what I did and we made sure that I was able to hold serve until we went up 4-3 and that clearly put some pressure on the opposition because then they had to switch their thinking on me being from the forehand to the backhand side and vice versa for Rohan. So when Rohan asked me to go for the shot, and I did, I let out a huge scream and that was letting out all the anxiety and fear that I had inside me. After that, it was just like in the previous matches, I was hitting the target and everything was falling into place. Rohan played a huge role there, ensuring that nothing else bothered me and he kept pushing me for the entire time.
From that nervous start to a confident ace to wrap things up. If you could talk about that serve…
I will never forget that because when we discussed where I was serving Rohan came up to me and said: “I want to see you best serve here and go for it.” Throughout the tournament I served really well except the final, where I was nervous. For that serve in particular, I took my time, I bounced the ball for like 8 times, because I have watched that video a lot of times, then I let go of a huge breath and went for my serve. I initially felt they would challenge it but they didn’t and then when Rohan suddenly turned back after two seconds I was like, “We finally did it”.
If you could talk about the support you received from the Punit Balan Group in your gold medal haul and the role they played…
The more I talk about Punit sir, the less it is. It was just the support that showed up at the right time for me. Last year around June we had started working together. Basically, he is the one who believed in me when nobody else was believing in me. I had approached a lot of people for support but nobody was giving me. And I had a conversation with my parents that this is not working and I have to play 30-35 weeks a year and we were all worried on how we could do it. Then we went to Punit sir and he believed in me and decided to work with me which eventually changed everything for me. Since last year, I have climbed up in singles ranking and made it to top-200 in doubles and now won the gold for India and it is a huge deal for me and my family and none of it would have been actually possible. There is no way I can play 30 weeks a year and take care of things I need to. Punit sir just made sure that I got the right kind of support and I am forever grateful for whatever he has been doing and for the future that we have together as a team.
How important is it to have such kind of support for tennis players to grow in their career?
It definitely plays a huge role. Until last year I would be worried about the price of tickets, accommodation and whether I can take someone with me to go for tournaments abroad. I couldn’t even play all 30 weeks. To become a top athlete, you have to play a minimum of 25-30 weeks and I was playing 18 to 20 weeks until last year because that is what I could afford with my parents putting in the money and the prize money I earned. It just wasn’t possible for us. Then when you have the right kind of support…I have already played a bunch of tournaments this year and I am at least able to take my coach sometimes or my mother or my husband when he has time. I have a psychologist on board now, a nutritionist and a physical trainer as well. All of this makes a significant impact on an athlete because that financial stress is now gone and the player can entirely focus on the game. This is what Punit sir realises and that is why there are so many athletes on board with him.
What is your next goal?
Next goal is to qualify for the Australian Open. I have another 2-3 months to achieve that. And now since I have had Asian Games success, I would like to target the Paris Olympics as well. But it is different with tennis because we don’t have an Olympic quota from Asian Games as it is for few other sports. If not, then I would like to go up in the rankings from 320 to top-200 and be able to play Grand Slams next year.
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