After losing in the opening round of the Australian Open men’s doubles competition, former world number one Rohan Bopanna and his new Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos were eliminated. They lost against Pedro Martinez and Jaime Munar, a Spanish team, 5-7, 6-7 (5) in the match on Tuesday. About two hours passed during the match.
The match got off to a strong start for the 14th-seeded Indo-Colombian duo. In the early games, each maintained a tight hold on the service. At important points in the game, though, they lost their hold, which gave the Spanish team the chance to take the lead and win.
First set of the match
In the early games, Bopanna and Barrientos played brilliantly and kept up their service with ease. Munar and Martinez, however, gathered speed over time. The Indo-Colombian duo was in difficulty because of their steady play from the baseline and their calculated play toward the net.
Near the end of the first set, when Martinez and Munar won the first set with the important break, the match changed course.
Exciting second set
In the second set, the match became even more exciting. Both partners fought hard against one another. In the beginning, it appeared that Martinez and Munar would win the match with ease after taking a 5-3 lead. However, Bopanna and Barrientos came back with a bang. They leveled the score at 5-5 by breaking their opponent’s serve.
A tie-break was used to determine the set. Here, the Spanish team won the set and the match 7-5 by showing their patience and expertise.
Rohan Bopanna’s record and new partnership
In 2024, Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna, 44, and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden won the Australian Open doubles championship. Bopanna’s career reached an important turning point with this historic victory. He became the oldest player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title with this victory. At the time, he was 43 years old.
However, following the Turin ATP Finals in late 2024, Bopanna and Ebden’s partnership came to an end. After that, Bopanna partnered with Nicolas Barrientos, a Colombian player.
Current state of Indian tennis
Besides losing to Rohan Bopanna and Nicolas Barrientos, Sumit Nagal, the top-ranked singles player in India, also lost badly in the Australian Open’s opening round. World No. 25 Tomas Machak of the Czech Republic defeated Nagal in straight sets in the match on Monday.
There is currently a mix of young and experienced players in Indian tennis, yet Grand Slam success is still difficult to achieve.
The way forward for Bopanna
As Rohan Bopanna is disappointed by this loss, he is still regarded as one of the world’s top doubles players. Although he would need some time to get used to the new partnership, his background and knowledge of the game make him a serious candidate to return in the next tournaments.
Indian tennis fans were disappointed with the loss to Rohan Bopanna and Nicolas Barrientos in the opening round of the Australian Open 2025. But this is a feature of the game. Indian tennis players have the potential to be very successful in the future. The younger generation will need to put in a lot of effort to represent the nation at the Grand Slam level, taking inspiration from seasoned athletes like Bopanna.