Singapore Open: Rohan Bopanna suffers shock defeat in doubles
Second seeds Bopanna and McLachlan went down in straight sets in the opening round
It was an opening round doubles defeat for Rohan Bopanna at the Singapore Open on Tuesday.
The Indian along with Japanese partner Ben McLachlan was defeated in straight sets (6-4, 6-2) by Luis David Martinez and David Vega Hernandez.
The other Indian doubles player in action today, N Sriram Balaji, though made a winning start. Balaji and his Swiss partner Luca Margaroli defeated wildcard entrants Shaheed Alam and Roy Hobbs 7-5, 6-1 to enter the quarterfinals.
They will take on the Venezuelan-Spanish pairing of Martinez and Hernandez in the next round.
Martinez and Hernandez had outclassed the Indo-Japanese pair were outclassed in every department. They converted three break points in the match out of a possible five, while not dropping serve once.
Bopanna is still in search of a win this year. The World No 39 in doubles, playing his third tournament in 2021, lost in the first round of the Melbourne ATP event and then again in the opening rounds of the men's doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open.
The veteran tennis player had also tried his luck in singles and made an appearance after more than four years. However, he lost to third-seeded Christopher Eubanks from the United States 3-6, 4-6 in straight sets in the first round of the qualifying event.
Previously, Ramkumar Ramanathan also went down fighting to Taro Daniel in the opening round. After battling for more than two hours he lost 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 to Daniel.
Ramanathan will now look to advance in doubles along with compatriot Purav Raja. They will lock horns against Yasutaka Uchiyama and South Korean Kwon Soon-woo on Wednesday.
Apart from him, Yuki Bhambri remains another Indian challenger in singles in Singapore.
Bhambri will play Australia's Matthew Ebden in the first round of the ATP 250 event on Wednesday. The match will mark Bhambri's return to the tour after a long hiatus. The Indian last played a competitive match in October 2018 and had been forced out since with a knee injury.