MELBOURNE — 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 Tuesday.
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.
In singles action, Sumit Nagal bowed out in the first
round after a loss to Czechia’s Tomas Machac.
