Rohan Bopanna, Sriram Balaji begin doubles partnership with a defeat

Indian tennis doubles players Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji teamed up for the first time on the ATP Tour and commenced their partnership with a loss. The loss might be a tough pill to swallow as the duo have very less time to prepare for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Bopanna and Balaji lost in the first round of the Hamburg Open to Germany’s Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner 1-6, 4-6. The Indians were seeded sixth in the tournament while the Germans were unseeded.

The Hamburg Open is an ATP 500 event.

Although the duo are good servers, they did not win as many points as they would have loved to on their first serves. The second serves are usually dished out on a cautious mode and it pushed the Indians on the defensive mode.

They lost their serve thrice in the match, twice in the first set and once in the second set, and could not convert any break point opportunities too.

The duo decided to team up after the Roland Garros but the Hamburg Open was their first match together. While Bopanna is good at the net and is good with service games, Balaji’s serve and baseline play makes the pair a good all-round combination.

While this is the first match, both Bopanna and Balaji have another tournament before they set foot on the courts at Roland Garros for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Indians will play in the Croatia Open in Umaag, an ATP 250 tournament.

The upcoming Paris Olympics 2024 will mostly be Bopanna’s last Olympics and the Indian would love to sign off on a high. Bopanna partners Australian Matthew Ebden on the ATP Tour and the pair have been on top of the rankings for sometime now. They are a force to reckon with on the Tour and their all-round game plan is their strength.

Meanwhile, India’s best singles player Sumit Nagal, who lost in the Nordea Open, will head straight to the 2024 Paris Olympics next. The Olympics commences on July 26.