Sania, who will retire after next month’s Dubai Masters, won mixed doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in Melbourne in 2009. She has previously played mixed doubles with Bopanna once at the French Open (2011) and twice (2011, 2021) at Wimbledon (2011, 2021) and is one of the pair’s best combinations. The result was a quarter-final at the 2011 All England Club, but a fourth-place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In the day’s other matches involving the Indians, Jeevan Nedunchezyan and N. Sriram Balaji came on as substitutes in the men’s doubles draw, while fifth-seeded Croatia 2022 French Open finalists of Ivan Dodig and USA’s Austin Krajicek 7-6 (6). The first round is 2-6, 6-4.
In juniors, Manas Damne beat hometown Widdlercard Jeremy Chan 6-3, 6-3 in men’s singles. The 15-year-old Manas made her debut on the ATP Tour as a wildcard at Tata Her Open Her Maharashtra earlier this month. However, Aryan Shah lost 6-1, 6-2 to 10th-seeded Brazilian Joao Fonseca.
