It was a mixed day for India at the US Open on Friday with losses for three players but one huge, morale-boosting win for the newly- formed all-Indian pair of Leander Paes and Purav Raja.
The duo notched a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over Serbia’s Janko Tipsarević and Viktor Troicki in the first round of the men’s doubles competition. The match lasted barely an hour as the Indian pair didn’t face a breakpoint throughout the match.
Paes and Raja partnered together only last month after the latter’s regular partnership with Divij Sharan failed to get them a direct entry into the last Major of the year. The duo had played at the Winston-Salem Open last week and lost in the opening round.
They will next face the Russian team of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev.
The veteran Indian – the oldest player at the US Open at 44 – was delighted to be at Flushng Meadows again for his 14th consecutive time and his 20th in the past 21 years.
“I love my sport. I love the late-night workouts. I love waking up in the morning, knowing Purav is by my side and we’re going to help each other out through thick and thin. Whether you win, lose or something in between, it doesn’t matter. You’re together as a team. That camaraderie you share with your partner becomes a brotherhood. That camaraderie you share with each other families becomes a team. The power of the team creates the power on the court. That’s what I love,” Paes was quoted as saying after his first round win.
Disappointing outing for seeded Bopanna, Mirza
Meanwhile, India’s other challengers in the men’s doubles faltered badly. The tenth seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay crashed out in the second round. They lost 7-5, 4-6, 4-6 to unseeded Italian duo of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli. Divij Sharan, who partnered world No. 66 Andre Begemann, lost 4-6, 4-6 to 11th seeded Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez.
In the mixed doubles, Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig, seeded second in the mixed doubles, were stunned in the first round. The Indian-Croatian pair lost to the unseeded but strong duo of Jelena Ostapenko and Fabrice Martin 7-5, 3-6, 6-10 in a thriller. The first set was a 40-minute grind that the second seeds managed to win. But the French Open singles champion and her partner won the second set easily and then trumped in the tie-breaker to cause an early upset.
However, both Bopanna and Mirza are still in the tournament in their other events. Bopanna will play the first of his mixed doubles match with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski while Mirza has already reached the second round of the women’s doubles with Peng Shuai of China.