Australian Open: Bopanna and partner Zhang advance to Rd 2

Rohan Bopanna

Indian ace Rohan Bopanna and his Chinese partner Shuai Zhang advanced to the second round of the Australian Open mixed doubles with a commanding 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ivan Dodig and Kristina Mladenovic here on Friday.

Aiming to recover from an early exit in the men's doubles, the former World No. 1 Indian showed his mettle alongside Zhang, delivering a clinical performance to close out the match in one hour and 12 minutes.

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The Indo-Chinese pair started strong, racing to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Though Croatian Dodig and Frenchwoman Mladenovic broke Zhang's serve to narrow the gap to 3-2, Bopanna held firm under pressure, serving out the set at 6-4. The second set began with both pairs exchanging breaks in a tight contest.

At 3-4 down, the Indo-Chinese duo capitalised on Dodig and Mladenovic's errors, including two costly double faults, to break serve and level the score. They held their nerve to win the next two games, with Zhang and Bopanna complementing each other with steady serve and sharp forehand display.

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