Australian Open 2020: Divij Sharan advances to men’s doubles second round

India's Divij Sharan and his New Zealand partner Artem Sitak reached the men's doubles second round of the Australian Open 2020 on Wednesday.

Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak celebrate during the men's doubles first round match of the Australian Open 2020.

India’s Divij Sharan and his New Zealand partner Artem Sitak on Wednesday progressed to the second round of the Australian Open men’s doubles event after beating Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa here.

Sharan and Sitak got the better of the Portuguese-Spanish duo 6-4 7-5 in a thrilling one hour 28 minute encounter.

The duo will next face the winner of the first-round match between 10th seeds Mate Pavio-Bruno Soares and Ben Molachlan and Luke Bambridge.

Partnering Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan, Bopanna went down to USA’s Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, 1-6 6-3 3-6 in a hard-fought one hour, 17 minutes contest.

However, it is not the end of the road for Bopanna. The 39-year-old will partner with comeback star Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles event.

On Tuesday, India’s top-ranked tennis player Prajnesh Gunneswaran missed out on a chance to play against world number two Novak Djokovic after crashing out in the men’s singles opening round.