New York [US], September 2 : India's Rohan Bopanna and Australian partner Matthew Ebden advanced to the round of 16 in the men’s doubles of the US Open 2023 tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows New York on Friday.
Seeded sixth at the year’s fourth and final tennis Grand Slam, Bopanna and Ebden took a little over an hour to beat the unseeded pairing of Roman Safiullin of Russia and Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3 in the second round, as per Olympics.com.
Bopanna and Ebden were pushed on the backfoot early in the first set. They barely held on to their first serve and were beaten on love in the second. However, a break in the eighth game helped them take the first set.
Safiullin and Golubev amped up their intensity in the second set. They hit more aces and had fewer double faults and unforced errors compared to Bopanna and Ebden but could not stretch the Indo-Australian duo for a break.
On the other hand, Bopanna and Ebden used their experience to earn back-to-back breaks in the seventh and the ninth game and sealed the match in straight sets.
The Indo-Australian duo will play the unseeded British pair Julian Cash and Henry Patten in the round of 16 on Sunday.
Rohan Bopanna will also be in action in the mixed doubles at the hard court event. The veteran Indian tennis player has teamed up with Indonesia’s Aldila Sutjiadi in the event, with the duo winning its opening match on Friday.
The 43-year-old Rohan Bopanna is India’s sole surviving representative at the US Open 2023. Earlier, Saketh Myneni and Yuki Bhambri, each teamed up with a different partner, bowed out in the opening round of the men’s doubles.
None of the Indian singles players, including Ankita Raina and Sumit Nagal, made it past the qualifiers.
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