Bopanna, Divij in doubles second round, lose mixed doubles

Rohan Bopanna got off to a splendid start as he in partnership with Marius Copil of Romania, a top-100 singles player, beat the sixth seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of NewZealand 6-3, 7-6(4) in the doubles first round of the French Open in Roland Garros.

Bopanna and Copil will play Benjamin Bonzi and Antoine Hoang of France in the second round.

In mixed doubles first round, Bopanna and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic ran into the top seeds Nicole Melichar of the US and Bruno Soares of Brazil, and were beaten 7-5, 6-1.

Divij Sharan in partnership with Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil scored a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Marton Fucsovics and Robert LIndstedt in the doubles first rund. It was good start for Divij as he had lost to LIndstedt and Matthew Ebden in the last tournament in Geneva in the semifinals.

Interestingly, Divij and partner had beaten Fucsovics and Taro Daniel in the quarterfinals in Geneva, 10-8 in the super tie-break.

In the second round, Divij and Demoliner will challenge the eighth seeds, and the Australian Open runners-up, Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia.

Divij also lost his mixed doubles first round in partnership with Shuko Aoyama of Japan, as the duo got beaten 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 by Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico.

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, partnering, Mischa Zverev of Germany, ran into the fourth seeds Oliver Marach of Austria and Mate Pavic of Croatia, and got beaten 7-6(2), 6-4.

Leander Paes in partnership with Frenchman Benoit Paire was scheduled to play Dominic Inglot of Britain and Martin Klizan of Sovakia, in the men’s doubles first round.

Earlier, the only Indian to figure in the singles main draw, Prajnesh Gunneswaran was hampered by lack of match exposure in recent weeks owing to a shoulder injury and lost tamely to Hugo Dellien of Bolivia, winning a mere five games in all in three sets, when he failed to capitalise on three breakpoints that he forced.

Ankita Raina, playing the women’s qualifying event, admitted that she was not at her best as she was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by the world No.2 junior, Cori Gauff of the US, the reigning French Open junior champion who had dropped just one set in seven matches on way to the title in asserting her efficiency on clay.

The results:

Men (first round): Hugo Dellien (BOL) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.

Doubles (first round): Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) & Divij Sharan bt Marton Fucsovics (HUN) & Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Marius Copil (ROU) & Rohan Bopanna bt Raven Klaasen (RSA) & Michael Venuz (NZL) 6-3, 7-6(4); Oliver Marach (AUT) & Mate Pavic (CRO) bt Mischa Zverev (GER) & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 7-6(2), 6-4.

Mixed doubles (first round): Nicole Melichar (USA) & Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Lucie Hradecka (CZE) & Rohan Bopanna 7-5, 6-1; Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) & Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) bt Shuko Aoyama (JPN) & Divij Sharan 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.

Women (qualifying singles first round): Cori Gauff (USA) bt Ankita Raina 6-4, 6-4.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)