Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza begin Indian campaign at US Open on a victorious note

India’s Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza posted contrasting wins in their respective men’s and women’s doubles openers at the US Open on Thursday.

The 10th seeded Indo-Uruguayan pair of Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas needed three sets to reach the second round. Bopanna and Cuevas won 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 82 minutes against the unseeded American team of Bradley Klahn and Scott Lipsky in the first round.

The seeded team struggled to score points off their second serves in the first set – managing to convert only 27% points as compared to the Americans’ 56%.

The margin of points’ conversion off the second serves, however, improved substantially for Bopanna and Cuevas as the match went on, specifically in the second set. Bopanna and Cuevas won 82% points off their second serves to Klahn and Lipsky’s mediocre 50% across the 22-minute second set. There again, while their margin of second serve points dropped to 53% to their rivals’ 57%, the pairing had done enough damage to their opponents to pocket the win.

In the second round, Bopanna and Cuevas will take on the unseeded Italian team of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli. The Italians won their first-round match against the fellow-unseeded American team of Steve Johnson and Tommy Paul, 6-0, 6-0.

No fuss win for Indian No 1

Unlike her fellow top-ranked Indian player, Mirza and her partner Shuai Peng had no problems in getting through their women’s doubles first round in Flushing Meadows. The fourth-seeded Indo-Chinese team won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 in 55 minutes against the unseeded Croatian team of Petra Martic and Donna Vekic.

Mirza and Peng put in 70% of their first serves and converted 79% points off the same. In comparison, the Croatians put in 73% of their first serves and converted 53% points off the same. In terms of points won off second serves, the fourth seeds fared relatively better winning 57% points off their second serves to their opponents’ winning 31%.

Mirza and Peng also converted four of the eight break points that came their way even as they saved three of the four break points on their serve. Next up for them are the unseeded Slovak Republican duo Jana Cepelova and Magdalena Rybarikova. Cepelova and Rybarikova beat the Czech-Swiss team of Viktorija Golubic and Kristyna Pliskova 6-2, 7-6(4).