Australian Open 2021

[PKBasu]

There were some wild UFEs (and big mishits) in the first set as well. A bit surprising that Sumit seemed under-coached, and not as ready for the big time as he was in that match against Federer.

[Dinesh]

Things are not looking good for Bops/Ben. Lost the first set 6-4 to the Korean team.

[sameerph]

They lost in straight sets.

[R1] Rohan Bopanna (IND) /Ben McLachlan (JPN) l. Ji Sung Nam (KOR) / Min-Kyu Song (KOR) 46 67(0)

Watched part of this match and Rohan's serve and groundstrokes lacked the usual power. He is turning 41 next month. Probably geting older for doubles too.

Where is our next doubles specialist ? Divij seems to have hit his celing and may not get to top 25 and nobody else in top 100 as of now.

[jayakris]

Where is our next doubles specialist ? Divij seems to have hit his celing and may not get to top 25 and nobody else in top 100 as of now.

Yuki when he decides to play doubles, and RamK. That's it for now.

[Atithee]

Is doubles tennis discussed anywhere in the world more than in SI?

And, now we are staring at the end of the road even there. Thank god.

[S_K_S]

What’s wrong with doubles? I personally love watching and playing it. I think it gets a raw deal from the ATP/WTA.

[prasen9]

With SKS on this one. Nothing wrong with doubles tennis. Let's play.

[arjun2761]

What’s wrong with doubles? I personally love watching and playing it. I think it gets a raw deal from the ATP/WTA.

Definitely love playing doubles -- it's probably what my legs are more comfortable with these days.

Not sure I enjoy watching most doubles specialists unless they are Indian. I think more spectators would watch the doubles if the bigger name singles players played more doubles.

[Atithee]

What’s wrong with doubles? I personally love watching and playing it. I think it gets a raw deal from the ATP/WTA.

Nothing wrong as a personal endeavor. I am an avid doubles tennis player. But, the bandwidth devoted to doubles in this forum (and probably all of India) is unparalleled and just a symptom of what could have been for most of the washed out singles talent we have/had. I often wish I could separate the doubles posts from singles in this forum. Just me. Not asking anyone else to do it.

[Dinesh]

Divij’s first round doubles match starts in a few minutes. Partnering Igor Zelenay, he is up against Germans Hanfmann/Kraweitz. The last time this pair played on the hard court, Divij (and Scott Clayton) defeated them in straight sets. Hoping for a similar result.

[Dinesh]

Divij team getting trounced. Lost the first set 6-1. His partner has been making too many mistakes.

[Dinesh]

Divij/partner lost 6-1 6-4
Ankita/partner lost 6-3 6-0 to unknown Aussie girls

[Rajiv]

Ankita and her partner routed by a 200+, & Unranked player 3 & 0.

Earlier Divij bit the Dust and overall a deplorable 4 R1 exists for our Guys

[PKBasu]

Our terrible Australian Open is over in R1.
Really shocking meltdown by Ankita and partner against a low-ranked wildcard pair. They couldn't have asked for an easier R1, and yet lost in shocking fashion. I only got to watch the last point (I was playing my daily tennis game when this match was on TV, and didn't get back on time to watch more of it). But am watching the highlights now, plus comments from Purav Raja and Gaurav Natekar. Purav has been brutal, saying that Ankita needs to work much more on her serve (especially second serve) and volleying to be viable in doubles. Clearly, Ankita and Mihaela didn't put in enough time practicing as a pair. Their court positioning was awful throughout. They also mentioned that it was extremely windy, which made it even more difficult. Nonetheless, shockingly abject defeat.

[vparam]

It's not over yet, as Bops is in the Mixed Doubles draw. But in all reality, this Aussie Open has been a disaster with all 9 sets lost. Our aging players are playing awful and our younger generation has shown they are not ready to compete at this level. Good luck in finding a silver lining with respect to the future of Indian Tennis.