French Open 2012: Will Mahesh Bhupathi Make It to the Hall of Fame?

It hasn't received as much notice as some of the other storylines at this year's French Open, such as Sara Errani's breakthrough, Maria Sharapova's return to the top or Rafael Nadal's dominance.

But nestled in there, men's doubles great Mahesh Bhupathi has won another Grand Slam title, this time in mixed doubles at the tournament.

He and countrywoman Sania Mirza defeated Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Santiago Gonzalez in the finals. Bhupathi and Mirza won a mixed Grand Slam title together before, at the Australian Open back in 2009. All told, Bhupathi has now won eight majors in the mixed, having captured each of the game's four biggest events twice.

Those eight—plus the four he's won in men's doubles—make for some impressive results.

Add to that the fact he's won 50 doubles titles overall and is still playing at a high level, and you could make the case that by the time his career is over he should be considered a future Hall-of-Famer.

Or can you?

It's never been easy for "doubles specialists" to be recognized for their achievements, despite the number of Grand Slam titles they've won. There are active players out there on both tours with a staggering amount of titles—such as Daniel Nestor and Lisa Raymond, each of whom have won a career Grand Slam in doubles.

But even though they might have more than 70 victories, the fact it was done under the perception doubles success is easier to come by will hurt their chances for enshrinement in Newport, R.I., the home of the tennis Hall of Fame.

However, winning tennis titles—be it in singles, doubles or mixed—is one of the hardest things to do in sports. If a player is capturing some of the game's biggest prizes on a regular basis, that should be ultimately recognized and acknowledged.

Bhupathi might not make it into the Hall of Fame, but it's hard to argue his numbers against those of some of his peers.