Rohan Bopanna (into the Mixed Doubles quarterfinals with Nadiia Kichenok) and Leander Paes (into Round 2 with Jelena Ostapenko) kept India’s flag flying in Melbourne, while Divij Sharan reached the Men’s Doubles 2nd round.
Rohan Bopanna · Australian Open 2020 Mixed & Men’s Doubles
Into Mixed Doubles QF| Round | Match | Score | Result | Match Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XD R1 | Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) d. Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) / Austin Krajicek (USA) | 7-5, 4-6, 10-6 | WON | Won match tiebreak over twin sister Lyudmyla |
| XD R2 | Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) d. Nicole Melichar (USA) / Bruno Soares (BRA) | 6-4, 7-6(4) | WON | Advanced to quarterfinals |
| MD R1 | Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) l. (13)Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan (USA) | 1-6, 6-3, 3-6 | LOST | Pushed Bryan brothers to 3 sets |
Leander Paes · Australian Open 2020 Mixed Doubles
Round 2 · Farewell AO| Round | Match | Score | Result | Match Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | (WC)Leander Paes (IND) / Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) d. (WC)Storm Sanders / Marc Polmans (AUS) | 6-7(4), 6-3, 10-6 | WON | Comeback win in farewell Melbourne Slam |
| R2 | (WC)Leander Paes (IND) / Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) l. (2)Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) / Jamie Murray (GBR) | 2-6, 5-7 | LOST | Final Australian Open appearance for Paes |
Divij Sharan · Australian Open 2020 Men’s Doubles
Round 2 Run| Round | Match | Score | Result | Match Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Divij Sharan (IND) / Artem Sitak (NZL) d. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) / Joao Sousa (POR) | 6-4, 7-5 | WON | Rallied from 3-5 down in Set 2 |
| R2 | Divij Sharan (IND) / Artem Sitak (NZL) l. (10)Mate Pavic (CRO) / Bruno Soares (BRA) | 6-7(2), 3-6 | LOST | Tight opening set decided in tiebreak |
Prajnesh Gunneswaran · Australian Open 2020 Men’s Singles
Lucky Loser · Round 1| Round | Match | Score | Result | Match Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | (LL)Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND, 122) l. (WC)Tatsuma Ito (JPN, 146) | 4-6, 2-6, 5-7 | LOST | 5th consecutive Grand Slam main draw |
Australian Open 2020 :
- Prajnesh Gunneswaran was the only Indian player in the singles main draw of Australian Open. He was up against a Japanese WC Tatsuma Ito in Round 1, with a chance to play against Novak Djokovic in Round 2, but he lost in straight sets.
- In Mens Doubles, Divij with his partner won his first round match but lost against a seeded pairing in the next round. Rohan and his Japanese partner Uchiyama lost in first round against the legendary Bryan brothers. Unfortunately, Sania Mirza had to retire during her first round match due to calf injury.
Sania had to pull out of mixed doubles and Rohan is partnering Nadiiaa Kichenok instead, and has moved through to the QF.Â
Also, Leander is playing in mixed doubles and has won his first round match.
These are summarised results –
[R1] (LL) Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,122) l (WC) Tatsuma Ito (JPN,145) 46 26 57
[R1]Â Divij Sharan (IND)/ Artem Sitak (NZL)Â d. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP)/ Joao Sousa (POR) 64 75
[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) l (13) Bob Bryan (USA)/ Mike Bryan (USA) 16 63 36
[R2]Â Nadiia Kichenok (UKR)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND)Â d. Nicole Melichar (USA)/ Bruno Soares (BRA) 64 76(4)
[R1] Nadiia Kichenok (UKR)/ Sania Mirza (IND) l Xinyun Han (CHN)/ Lin Zhu (CHN) 26 0-1 retd.
[R1]Â (WC) Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)/ Leander Paes (IND)Â d. (WC) Storm Sanders (AUS)/ Marc Polmans (AUS) 67(4) 63 10-6
ATP Challenger Tour –
Both Sasikumar Mukund and Ramkumar Ramanathan caused big upsets over third and second seeds respectively but could not follow up on their upsets and lost in the next round.
Bala/Jeevan and Purav won first round matches at their respective challengers but lost in the QF.
These are our challenger results this week-
ATP $54K+H Bangkok 2 Challenger 2020, Thailand
[R1] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,267) d. Duckhee Lee (KOR,233) 61 63
[R2] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,267) d. (3) Paolo Lorenzi (ITA,114) 63 62
[R2] (15) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,185) d. JC Aragone (USA,262) 76(5) 10 retd.
[R1] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) d. Sadio Doumbia (FRA)/ Fabien Reboul (FRA) 64 75
[R3] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,250) l (14) Dmitry Popko (KAZ,184) 57 46
[R3] (15) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,185) d. (2) Go Soeda (JPN,110) 75 75
[QF] N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l (2) Gonzalo Escobar (ECU)/ Miguel Angel Reyes-Verela (MEX) 67(4) 63
[QF] (15) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,185) l (10) Robin Haase (NED,161) 67(5) 26
At €46.6K+H Rennes Challenger 2020, France
[R1]Â (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN)Â bt (WC) Quentin Gueydan (FRA)/ Mathis Moysan (FRA) 75 61
[QF] (2) Purav Raja (IND)/ Adil Shamasdin (CAN) l Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS)/ Lukas Lacko (SVK) 67(5) 46
ITF Men’s Futures –
Former Asian Junior Champion Nitin Kumar Sinha made his maiden ITF Pro Circuit final in Antalya, Turkey, partnering Dutchman Justin Eleveld.
