Roger Federer has said that Mahesh Bhupati and Rohan Bopanna are formidable opponents who would be tough to defeat in the doubles at the London Olympics.

Federer and Swiss team-mate Stanislas Wawrinka had bagged the gold in the last olympics in 2008, Beijing and they would continue to be the hot favorites for millions across the world this year too.

But world number one Federer, who clinched a record equalling 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 i their first match against Belarus's Max Mirnyi and Alexander Bury. Bhupathi had refused to team with Leander Paes after falling out with him

Leander Paes had teamed up with Vishnu Vardhan to play against Robin Hasse and Jean-Julien Rojer of Netherlands.
Federer was quoted saying he would like to fight against any of the Indian teams but he wondered why Paes and Bhupathi hadn't come together in the games. He also added that Bopanna is a very good player too on the grass court.  Though the Swiss champion concentrates more on the singles event he wouldn't slacken to hold up the doubles champion title he presently holds.

He added, "Hopefully, we can do well again. We haven't played much doubles of late. Thank God we are seeded, that helped us out a little bit in the draw."

(AW- Anil)