Rohan Bopanna-Zhang Shuai enter mixed doubles quarterfinals at Australian Open

MELBOURNE: Veteran Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Chinese partner Zhang Shuai entered the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open after they got a walkover in a second-round match here on Sunday.

Bopanna and Shuai were up against fourth seeds Taylor Townsend of the United States and Hugo Nys of Monaco but the Indian-Chinese pair moved to the last eight round without taking the court.

Bopanna and Shuai will next play the winner of the match between Hungary’s Timea Babos and El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo, and, the Australian combination of Olivia Gadecki and John Peers.

The Indo-Chinese pair had earlier defeated Kristina Mladenovic of France and Ivan Dodic of Croatia 6-4 6-4 in its opening match.

Earlier, Bopanna and his new Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos bowed out of the men’s doubles event with an opening-round loss to the Spanish team of Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar.

The 44-year-old Indian won the 2024 edition with his Australian partner Matthew Ebden. That historic victory made Bopanna, who was 43 at that time, the oldest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title. IANS

Also Read: Rohan Bopanna, Zhang Advance to Australian Open mixed doubles second round with straight sets win

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