Rohan Bopanna, India’s top-ranked men’s doubles player, begins his Australian Open campaign on Friday, partnering Matthew Ebden in men’s doubles. The 10th-seeded pair takes on the all-Austrian duo of Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler.
The 42-year-old Bopanna, a former World No. 3 in doubles, enters the first Major of the year with two defeats in two matches this season. At Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, World No. 19 Bopanna and Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp lost to Ramkumar Ramanathan and Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela in the opening round. Playing with Ebden, Bopanna got a bye in the first round of the Adelaide International 2 in the following week before going down to French-German pair of Nicolas Mahut and Tim Puetz in the round of 16.
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Bopanna’s partner - the 35-year-old Ebden - is World No. 24 in doubles. Ebden reached last year’s Australian Open men’s doubles final with compatriot Max Purcell, losing to local wildcard duo of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis. However, at Wimbledon, Ebden and Purcell beat Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in a marathon five-set final to win the title.
Here is the list of fixtures involving Indians on day five of the 2023 Australian Open (with estimated start timings in IST)
Court 3
Men’s Doubles, Round One: [10] Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden (AUS) vs Alexander Erler/Lucas Miedler (AUT) - 7AM IST
