Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHIl; Indian ace Rohan Bopanna and his mixed doubles partner Zhang Shuai of China crashed out of the Australian Open after losing to local duo Olivia Gadecki and John Peers in the quarterfinal on January 21. The Indo-Chinese pair suffered a 6-2, 4-6, 9-11 at the hands of Australian wild cards in one hour and eight minutes clash at Kia Arena. Their loss also ended India’s campaign at the season’s first major.
Bopanna and Shuai had advanced to the quarterfinal after receiving a walkover against fourth seeds Taylor Townsend of the USA and Hugo Nys of Monaco in the second round. The Indo-Chinese duo took the first set, but their Australian opponents managed to come back in the second set, leading to a super tie-break to decide the outcome.
Bopanna and Zhang had a strong fight but ultimately fell short in the super tie-breaker. After losing Bopanna’s serve early on, they worked hard to catch up but couldn’t capitalise on their match point at 9-8. The Australian pair seized the opportunity when Zhang’s return went wide and sealed the victory.
Notably, the Indian ace had reached the mixed doubles final with Sania Mirza in 2023.
Bopanna was also a part of the men’s doubles event at the Australian Open with Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos. However, the Indo-Colombian duo lost 7-5, 7(7)-6(5) to Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar in the opening round.
Bopanna became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era of tennis when he won the Australian Open men’s doubles title with Matthew Ebden last year. The duo split at the end of 2024 and neither Bopanna nor Ebden made it past the first round of the men’s doubles event at the Australian Open this year.
Yuki Bhambri, with French partner Albano Olivetti, and Rithvik Bollipalli, partnering Ryan Seggerman of the USA, suffered first-round exits from the men’s doubles event. N Sriram Balaji and his Mexican partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela crashed out in the second round.
