Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina 6-2, 7-6 (5) in a historic all-Indian mixed doubles first-round match at Wimbledon on Friday.
It was the first time in the Open Era that two Indian teams competed against each other at a Grand Slam tournament.
The contest finally brought a Grand Slam debut for Ramkumar, who has made 21 attempts to qualify for the singles main draw of a tennis Major.
While the first set ended in favour of Bopanna and Mirza, Ramkumar and Raina presented a good fight in the second set, which they even led briefly with a break of serve.
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Bopanna was the best player on the court with his powerful serve and solid groundstrokes from the baseline. He also displayed a superior net game.
On expected lines, Ramkumar served big while Raina gave her all after growing in confidence.
Mirza has also moved to women's doubles second round with Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Meanwhile, Raina and her American partner Lauren Davis lost in straight sets to the US pair of Asia Muhammad and Jessica Pegula on Thursday evening.
The 14th seeds beat the Raina-Davis pair 6-3, 6-2 in 70 minutes.
Bopanna and Divij Sharan are already out, having lost their men's doubles opening round match.
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