Indian Men’s Doubles Campaign Ends at Australian Open 2018
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan lost their respective third round matches at the Australian Open on Monday.
India's prospects in the men's doubles competition of the ongoing Australian Open ended on Monday, 22 January, after Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan lost their respective third round matches.
Playing with their respective partners, Sharan and Bopanna pushed the matches to third set but weren't able to extend their stay in the draw. On Sunday, Leander Paes and Purav Raja had bowed out in straight sets.
Combining with Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, Bopanna lost to Oliver Marach of Austria and Croatia's Mate Pavic 6-4 6-7 (5) 3-6 at the Melbourne Park.
The match lasted a little over two hours and saw the Indo-French duo convert one out of two break points, while their opponents converted three out of 12 break points.
Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin had two aces compared to their opponents' seven.
In an earlier match, the duo of Sharan and Rajeev Ram from the USA suffered a 6-3 6-7 (4) 4-6 defeat at the hands of Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Brazil's world number one Marcelo Melo.
While Sharan and Ram converted two out of six break points, Lukasz and his partner converted two out of four break points. The third round match lasted two hours and 12 minutes.
On Sunday, Paes and Raja were convincingly swept aside by Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia 1-6, 2-6 in just an hour and nine minutes.
India's hopes now rest in the mixed doubles draw with sole representation by Bopanna. Bopanna and his Hungarian partner Timea Babos are in the second round after beating Ellen Perez and Andrew Whittington in the opening round.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)
(We Indians have much to talk about these days. But what would you tell India if you had the chance? Pick up the phone and write or record your Letter To India. Don’t be silent, tell her how you feel. Mail us your letter at lettertoindia@thequint.com. We’ll make sure India gets your message.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)