India’s campaign in the men’s doubles at the French Open began on a positive note with each player registering a win to advance to the next round. However, Sania Mirza bowed out in the opening round of the women’s doubles event on Wednesday.
Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas hardly broke a sweat as they outplayed the French duo of Mathias Bourgue and Paul-Henri Mathieu in a one-sided contest.
The ninth seeded Indo-Uruguayan pair posted a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 victory over French combination in just 53 minutes. They will next take on Treat Huey and Denis Istomin.
The all-Indian pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan also crossed the first hurdle, beating the experienced team of Nicolas Almagro and Steve Johnson. Raja-Sharan lost the first set in a tie breaker but staged a spectacular comeback to win the match 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-0. They will play 15th seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic next.
Leander Paes and his American partner Scott Lipsky also started their charge with a win. The unseeded duo overcame Radu Albot and Hyeon Chung 7-6)5), 4-6, 6-2. Paes-Lipsky won the first set in a tiebreaker but lost the second, before dominating the super tie breaker.
They will take on Tommy Robredo and David Marrero next.
In the women’s doubles, fourth seeded pair of Sania Mirza and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan were stunned by unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Australia’s Daria Gavrilova in a hard-fought match.
Sania and Shvedova went down 6-7(5), 6-1, 2-6 to Pavlyuchenkova and Gavrilova in a gruelling battle that lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes.
Sania, the former World No 1, is however still there in the mixed doubles.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!