Bopanna-Ebden make winning start to US Open

New York, Aug 31 (PTI) India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Australian men’s doubles partner Matthew Ebden advanced to the second round of the US Open with a straight-set win over Christopher O’Connell and Aleksandar Vukic here.

Bopanna and Ebden, who are seeded sixth, brushed aside the Australian duo 6-4 6-2 in less than an hour (55 minutes) to win their first round match comfortably on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and 35-year-old Ebden converted three of their five break points while giving no break opportunity to their rivals.

The two had a first serve percentage of 72 per cent.

The Indo-Australian pair, which reached the Wimbledon semifinals, earned the first break in game nine to go up 5-4.

The two found an early break in the second set and quickly raced to 5-2 before sealing the tie.

Bopanna, a US Open runner-up in 2010, and Ebden will meet the winner of the first round match between USA’s Aleksandar Kovacevic and Nicolas Moreno De Alboran, and Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev and Russia’s Roman Safiullin.