Paes, Sania, Bopanna off to good start

Bopanna kicked off India’s day with a sweat-inducing 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3 win with his Danish partner Frederik Nielsen over 16th seeds Radek Stepanek and Nenad Zimonjic in the first round men’s doubles on Wednesday. Seventh seeds Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova defeated unseeded American pairing of Jada Myii Hart and Ena Shibahara 6-2, 6-3 in a fairly comfortable fashion in women’s doubles. 

Veteran Paes and his mixed doubles partner Martina Hingis also had a light workout at the court, securing a 6-3, 6-2 win against Americans Sachia Vickery and Frances Tiafoe. The unseeded Indo-Danish pair of Bopanna and Nielsen fought 1 hour and 53 minutes to seal the win at Court 6. Bopanna-Nielsen were up against a more experienced Czech-Serbian combination but began confidently to win the first set 6-3. Stepanek-Zimonjic used all of their experience to claim the second set in a tie-break to pull level. 

But Bopanna-Nielsen kept a hold on their nerves to win the decider 6-3. They converted four out of eight break points won, while their opponents only won 2 from 9, which ultimately created the difference among two teams. They will now take on Brian Baker and Marcus Daniell for a place in the pre-quarterfinals. Seventh seeds Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova defeated unseeded American pairing of Jada Myii Hart and Ena Shibahara 6-2, 6-3 in a fairly comfortable fashion.