Melbourne [Australia], January 14: India’s Rohan Bopanna’s campaign at the Australian Open ended in the first round as he and his Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos were defeated in a hard-fought match. The 14th-seeded duo lost to Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar 5-7, 6-7 (5) in a match that lasted one hour and 54 minutes on Court 15 in Melbourne.
Bopanna, who triumphed in last year’s Australian Open doubles with Matthew Ebden, was unable to replicate that success with Barrientos this time around. Despite their high seeding, the Indo-Colombian pair struggled to find their rhythm against the unseeded Spanish opponents, eventually bowing out in straight sets.
The loss marked a disappointing start for the 44-year-old Bopanna, who reached World No. 1 in doubles rankings in 2023. It added to India’s tough start at the tournament, following Sumit Nagal’s first-round exit in the men’s singles. Nagal, the sole Indian in the men’s singles draw, was defeated 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 by 26th seed Tomas Machac of Czechia in a match lasting two hours and five minutes.
Last year, Nagal had made a stunning first-round exit win over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, becoming the first Indian men’s player to defeat a seeded player at a Grand Slam since 1989.
Meanwhile, three other Indian players are still in the men’s doubles competition: Yuki Bhambri, partnered with France’s Albano Olivetti; N. Sriram Balaji, who teams up with Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela; and Rithvik Bollipalli, playing alongside American Ryan Seggerman. Unfortunately, no Indian woman qualified for the Australian Open this year, leaving the country’s hopes pinned on the remaining doubles players.