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After enduring what he describes as one of his worst years on the circuit, Rohan Bopanna is hopeful of bouncing back next season in the company of a new partner in Uruguays Pablo Cuevas. Bopanna finished 2016 without a single tournament win and his individual doubles ranking has plummeted to 28. Having split with Romanian Florin Mergea, his partner for a large part of the last two years, Bopanna is now counting on improved results with Cuevas, who has a singles ranking of 22 and has won a mens doubles Grand Slam previously - the 2008 French Open with Luis Horna.I could have surely done much better, Bopanna told ESPN in Bangalore, where he is on a short break. I am disappointed in the fact that I couldnt win a tournament this year though I made some finals. Changing partners constantly after Wimbledon doesnt really help. It was challenging, but something for me to learn from and keep moving forward.Florin (Mergea) sent me an email right after US Open that he would like to find a different partner, which I completely agree with. As an individual player if someone wants to make that change and look for something different, they have every right to do so. Hence I had to find a new partner and hence Pablo (Cuevas) came into the picture. He has a similar game to Florin, who served and stayed back. I am used to this kind of partnership, so I thought I would stick to a similar type of partnership and see if it helps me.Bopanna has also decided to make changes to his methods and approach in his quest to overcome the downward spiral in his recent performances. After playing on the ad-court (left side of the court) in recent years, he will switch over to operating from the deuce court (right side) next year. He has had success in previous partnerships with Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniel Nestor by operating from the deuce court and is gambling on a similar outcome by returning to the formula.The 36-year-old has also made changes to his training regime by experimenting at the fitness fight club over the last few days. Bopanna says one of his main goals for the remainder of his career is to win a mens doubles Grand Slam title, though he concedes it will be an uphill task on an increasingly competitive circuit.If you look at the Grand Slams for the past 3-4 years there hasnt been a team that has won consistently, he says. That clearly shows the field is getting stronger, many more singles players are playing doubles. So you have to work with that, hence me getting a singles player as partner might just help me.But despite all the tennis he has played this year, Bopanna does miss not being a part of the ATP World Tour Finals, where he has reached the mens doubles final twice, in 2012 and 2015.My main focus is to play the Masters series and doing well in the Grand Slams. The ATP tour Finals is going on this week and I will be wrong to say I am not missing it. Last year was a great experience as was 2012. So when I am watching on TV, I feel a little let down by myself, not being a part of it. So that is my goal for next year, to get back into the top eight teams.Rio pain One of Bopannas biggest disappointments this year was missing out on a medal at the Rio Olympics. Having lost in the first round of the mens doubles with Leander Paes, Bopanna and Sania Mirza reached the semifinals of the mixed doubles before going down to Rajeev Ram and Venus Williams after taking the first set. A day later, they were beaten in the bronze medal play-off by the Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek. Bopanna admits that the memories of those two matches in Rio continue to haunt him.I think it is a high point and a very low point, he says. Sometimes its better to lose the first round than to come so close. When someone brings up the topic, I do feel really hurt. It would have made a big difference for the country to win a medal. As athletes we go out there to try and win a medal for India, so coming fourth was very hard to take.Looking at the overall picture we had a better chance in the semifinals match against Venus and Rajeev. In the bronze match it was very hard, sometimes you are reliving the moments from the earlier match. It was on the same court and less than 24 hours later. We gave it our best shot. Credit to Venus, who really stepped it up, and gave confidence to Rajeev to play his game also.After their run in Rio and previous success at events such as the Hopman cup and the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), there have been murmurs of Bopanna and Mirza forging a partnership for the four Grand Slam tournaments next year. Bopanna, who played with different partners at each of the slams last year, says that while he would relish the opportunity to join forces with Mirza, he understands why the world number one would not want to split up her pairing with Croatias Ivan Dodig.They are a good team, they reached the final of the French Open, he says. You cant break up a team just like that. Everybody wants to play with someone who is playing really good tennis and Sania is playing her best tennis right now. If there is an opportunity to play mixed doubles together surely it will be a great chance. Mixed doubles is there are only four slams. Combined ranking is important too. My ranking is much lower, Ivan is higher, so obviously they will be seeded higher if they play together rather than if I team up with her.Although he will be 40 at the time, Bopanna hasnt given up hopes of playing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics provided he can stay fit and healthy. In the immediate future though, he is keen to get some down time in before the third season of the IPTL begins at the end of the month. Having missed the Davis Cup World Group play off tie against Spain in Delhi with an injury in September, Bopanna is keen to get back in the mix when the Indian team assembles for their next tie in February against New Zealand in Pune.If I am fit, I will be 100% available, he insists. I am looking forward to the tie, it is on hard courts. I read they want to have three singles players in the squad, which leaves place for only one doubles specialist. So we will have to wait and see. NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Declaring that the global drug-testing system is damaged, Olympic leaders and anti-doping officials vowed Tuesday to fix the problems and prevent the type of scandal that has embroiled Russian athletes in the lead-up to the games in Rio de Janeiro.The IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency clashed again Tuesday over the allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia that have rattled the Olympic movement and created chaos ahead of Fridays opening ceremony in Rio.But both sides agreed on one thing -- the need to repair the international anti-doping system and restore trust and credibility in the fight against drugs.This is not about destroying structures, IOC President Thomas Bach said, referring to WADA. This is about improving significantly a system in order to have a robust and efficient anti-doping system so that such a situation that we face now cannot happen again.Bach spoke after a debate in which International Olympic Committee members overwhelmingly backed the executive boards decision not to take the nuclear option of banning Russias entire Olympic team. Bach and many members pointed fingers at WADA for failing to act sooner on evidence of state-run doping in Russia and for releasing its findings so close to the start of the games.I dont feel as if Ive been run under a bus, WADA chief Craig Reedie told reporters, insisting that both sides were in general accord on the need to find solutions for the future.Somebody said this system is broken, he said. I dont think all the system is broken. i think quite a lot of the system still works, but that certain parts of the system need revision.Reedie said he had received assurances from officials at high levels of the Russia government that they accept they have a problem and need to fix it.It is absolutely essential that we cannot have the biggest country in the world non-compliant on a permanent basis, he said.Bach opened the IOCs three-day general assembly by seeking formal backing for the boards decisions on the Russian crisis. After a debate lasting more than two hours, Bach asked for a show of hands, and only one of the 85 members -- Britains Adam Pengilly -- voted against his position.Despite evidence of a vast state-organized program involving Olympic sports in Russia, the IOC board rejected calls for a total ban and left it to international sports federations to decide on the entry of individual Russian athletes for the games.Bach said it would be wrong to make individual Russian athletes collateral damage for the wrongdoing of their government.Leaving aside that such a comparison is completely out of any proportion when it comes to the rules of sport, let us just for a moment consider the consequences of a `nuclear option, Bach said. The result is death and devastation. This is not what the Olympic Movement stands for. The cynical `collateral damage approoach is not what the Olympic movement stands for.ddddddddddddThe IOC has been roundly criticized by many anti-doping bodies, athletes groups and Western media for not applying a complete ban on the Russian team. Pressure for a full ban grew after WADA investigator Richard McLaren issued a report accusing Russias sports ministry of orchestrating doping program and cover-ups involving athletes across more than two dozen summer and winter Olympic sports.Natural justice does not allow us to deprive a human being of the right to prove their innocence, Bach said.Underlying the deep split between Olympic leaders and anti-doping officials, Bach and others put the responsibility on WADA.I think its not the reputation of the IOC that has to be restored, its the reputation of WADA, Israeli member Alex Gilady said.Argentine member Gerardo Werthein added: At times WADA has seemed to be more interested in publicity and self-promotion rather than doing its job as a regulator.Reedie said he spoke later with both men and addressed their concerns.IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Reedies positon was not compromised by the debate.We dont always agree on everything, he said. It wasnt a totally one-sided debate. We aired a lot of issues.Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov claimed there was a political campaign against Russia and cited discrimination against clean athletes not connected to doping.I urge you to resist this unprecedented pressure that is now on the entire Olympic movement and not to let this pressure to split the entire Olympic family, he said.U.S. member Larry Probst said it was wrong to attribute the problem to international politics.We have a doping problem, the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman said. And its not just Russia, its global. The current system is broken and we need to fix the problem.A few members did question the IOC decision to keep Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova -- an 800-meter runner who helped expose systematic doping in her homeland -- out of the games.If there was to be one exception, it should have been her, Richard Peterkin of St. Lucia said.The strongest criticism came from Canadian member Dick Pound, a former president of WADA who has been outspoken in calling for a complete ban on Russia -- something he had previously called the nuclear option. He said the reputation of the IOC was on the line.We need to do a lot more to show that we really do care about fair play, honest competition and clean athletes, he said.By the end, however, Pound was among the 84 members who voted in favor.The arrows left the bow, he said. The decision has been made, its not going to be changed between now and the start of the games.---AP Sports Writer Stephen Wade contributed to this report. ' ' '