Tennis great Roger Federer recently backed Indian stars Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to mount a strong challenge for his doubles gold medal at the London Olympics.

For the uninitiated, Federer and Swiss team-mate Stanislas Wawrinka took gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing and will be among the favourites for the top prize in this year's event, which gets underway at Wimbledon on Saturday.

But world number one Federer, who clinched a record equaling seventh Wimbledon singles title earlier this month, knows a potential semi-final meeting with seventh seeded duo Bhupathi and Bopanna would pose a serious threat to his hopes of winning doubles gold again.

Bhupathi and Bopanna start their Olympic campaign against Belarus's Max Mirnyi and Alexander Bury after Bhupathi refused to be teamed with Leander Paes following a falling-out with his compatriot.

"I would love to play any of the Indian teams, but Bopanna and Bhupathi are closer to us in the draw. I don't know why they (Bhupathi and Paes) didn't play together, but Bopanna is a very good player himself and I'm sure on grass they will have a chance to do very well," he said.

Well, we would be really glad if the Indians get to play against Federer in the Games!

Source: TNN