India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas, who won the Montel Carlo Masters last week, were stunned in the first round of the Barcelona Open on Thursday. The unseeded pair lost 6-7 (3), 6-7 (2) to top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
In the run to their title win in Monaco, Bopanna and Cuevas had defeated Kontinen and Peers in the quarter-finals. However, this time around, the Finnish and Australian pair was ready to avenge their defeat at Barcelona. It was a tight match with both sets going into a tie-breaker. However, the top seeds won crucial points to win the match and progress to the next round.
With the French Open around the corner, Bopanna and Cuevas need to get their act together if they are to win their first Grand Slam of the season. Bopanna is now ranked 18 in the world while Cuevas is ranked 24 in the doubles and 26 in the singles. At Monte Carlo, Bopanna and Cuevas beat the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez to win the title.