Melbourne, Jan 14: Former World No. 1 Rohan Bopanna and his new Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos suffered exit in the opening round of men's doubles at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

The Indo-Colombian suffered a 5-7, 6-7 (5) loss to the Spanish duo Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar in a one hour and 54-minute battle.

Bopanna won the season's first Grand Slam with Australia’s Matthew Ebden in 2024, achieving a historic victory as he became the oldest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title at the age of 43.

However, the Bopanna-Ebden partnership concluded after the Turin ATP Finals in November last year, and the Indian ace teamed up with Colombia’s Barrientos this year.

Bopanna and Ebden had a successful two-year partnership, during which they won the Australian Open title last year along with the ATP Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells in 2023 and the Miami Open in 2024. The Indo-Australian pair also reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2024 and reached the No. 1 rankings in the doubles.

Earlier, Sumit Nagal, the only Indian singles tennis player in Melbourne, also crashed out after losing to Czechia’s Tomas Machac in the first round of the men’s singles event at Melbourne Park on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Nagal, 91st in the ATP Rankings for singles, lost to his world No. 25 opponent 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 in two hours and five minutes.

Meanwhile, Indian interest continues in the doubles event despite Bopanna's loss as other Indian players Yuki Bhambri with France’s Albano Olivetti, N Sriram Balaji alongside Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, and Rithvik Bollipalli partnering the USA’s Ryan Seggerman will begin their doubles campaign on Wednesday.

(IANS)

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