Bopanna is ranked 7th in the World in men’s doubles while Bhambri is 65th. Bopanna recently finished runner-up in the US Open and had partnered with Bhambri to help India to victory in the Davis Cup World Group II encounter against Morocco in Lucknow, a few days before leaving for Hangzhou.
On Monday, they were stunned by Uzbekistan’s Sergey Fomin and Khumoyun Sultanov 6-2, 3-6, 6-10 in a second-round clash in men’s doubles in a match played on the centre court on Monday.
Bopanna, however, returned a few hours later to partner Rutuja Bhosale to reach the third round in the mixed doubles competition, beating Uzbekistan’s Aakgul Amanmuradova and Maksim Shin in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 in a match played on Court 6 that last just over one hour.
Bopanna and seeded second in the Mixed Doubles section and received a bye in the first round. India’s Yuki and Ankita Raina, the top seeds in mixed doubles, are yet to play their second-round match.
Meanwhile, in women’s singles, Ankita and Rutuja reached the third round after winning their respective matches in straight sets.
Ankita handed Uzbekistan’s Sabrina Olimjova a double bagel, winning 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour on Monday.
Rutuja had to quell a tough fight by Kazakhstan’s Aruzhan Sagandykova 7-6(2), 6-2 in a second-round match in two hours at Court 4 on Monday. Rutuja broke her opponent’s service in the sixth and eighth games of the second after being taken to the tie-breaker in the first.
Rutuja then combined with Karman Kaur Thandi to beat Kazakhstan’s Zhanei Rustemova and Aruzhan Sagandykova 6-4, 6-2 in a women’s doubles first-round match.
In men’s singles, India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan advanced to the third round after his opponent Sunatulla Isroilov gave him a walkover.
Ramkuamr and Saketh Myneni, the second-seeded Indian pair, advanced to the third round in men’s doubles by beating Indonesia’s Ignatius Anthony Susanto and David Agung Susanto 6-3, 6-2 in 68 minutes.
–IANS
bsk/bc