Aus Open: Divij enters 2nd round in doubles, Rohan ousted
Melbourne, Jan 22 (IANS) India's Divij Sharan on Wednesday advanced to the second round of men's doubles event at the Australian Open after beating Pablo Carreno Busta and Joao Sousa along with his New Zealand partner Artem Sitak, but Rohan Boppanna was knocked out.
Divij and Sitak needed an hour and 28 minutes to win the first-round match 6-4, 7-5 against their lower-ranked opponents. The pair won 69 per cent first serve points and hit 27 winners to get their Australian Open campaign going.
Bopanna went down to USA's Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6 partnering Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan.
Rohan will stay on in the competition, however, as the 39-year-old will partner comeback star Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles event.
On Thursday, Mirza, who won the doubles title in Hobart International, will team up with Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine for the Australia Open.
The duo will face Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu in their women's doubles first round clash.