Bopanna-Ebden move to second round of US Open

New York, Aug 30 (PTI) ) India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden moved into the second round of the US Open men’s doubles competition with a win over Netherland’s Sander Arends and Robin Haase.

Bopanna and Ebden sailed past their Dutch opponents 6-3, 7-5 in a 64-minute opening round contest on Thursday night.

Last edition’s runner up, the Indo-Australian pair has arrived to the final Grand Slam of the season on the back of three consecutive losses but the duo backed itself and got the job done.

Bopanna and Ebden initially struggled, losing their serve in the third game. However, they quickly regained their composure, breaking their opponents’ serve twice to win the next four games.

In the second set, they faced a similar challenge, falling behind but managing to equalise the set at 5-5. They then broke their opponents’ serve once more to clinch the match.

The second seeds, who are the current Australian Open champions, will face the unseeded pair of Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena and Federico Coria of Argentina in the second round on Friday.