India’s highest ranked player Rohan Bopanna’s men’s doubles run at the Australian Open ended in the first round, as he and partner Matthew Ebden lost in straight sets to Austrian duo Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler.
The European pair won 6-3, 7-5, in a match that lasted 69 minutes on Court 3 at Melbourne Park.
Bopanna, the doubles world No 19 is still active in the year’s first Grand Slam, as he will compete in the mixed doubles event with compatriot Sania Mirza.
The 10th seeded Indo-Australian pair were dealt a first blow when Ebden’s serve was broken in the fourth game to take the Austrians 3-1 up. That was the only opening they needed as they held onto their own serve to take the set 6-3.
Both teams rallied hard in the second set with with no game going as far as deuce until the 10th game when Bopanna and Ebden started to put the pressure on Erler’s serve. However, the 10th seeds did not find a single break point opportunity despite the game going to deuce thrice.
Eventually, with Ebden serving at 5-5, the Austrians found a break yet again and Miedler served out the match at love.
Mirza, who is competing in her last Grand Slam, is active in both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles events.
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