China Open 2024: Rohan Bopanna-Ivan Dodig makes first-round exit

Beijing: Veteran Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his partner Ivan Dodig from Croatia made a shock first-round exit from the China Open after losing to Francisco Cerundolo and Nicolas Jarry 5-7 6-7 inside the boys’s doubles match here on Saturday.

The unseeded pair of Cerundolo (Argentina) and Jarry (Chile) got the less complicated of 2nd-seeded Bopanna-Dodig inside the round 16 match that lasted one hour 31 minutes.

It be miles to be noted that Bopanna was no longer playing along with his regular partner Matthew Ebden, with whom he won the Australian Open this year, as the Australian had opted out of the tournament.

Thus, the Indian veteran paired with Dodig, with whom he had played in 2017 and 2021 and reached the final of the ATP Montreal Masters a thousand event in 2017.

Earlier this year, Bopanna clinched his first Grand Slam of his career after winning the boys’s doubles final inside the Australian Open with Ebden. He was the oldest man inside the Open Era to win a significant men’s doubles title. The forty four-year-old also won the Miami Open to feature one more title to his highly illustrious career.

Bopanna-Ebden lost inside the round of 16 match inside the United States Open doubles earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Chinese tennis players Yuan Yue and Wei Sijia were both eliminated in straight sets inside the ladies’s singles 2nd round at the China Open on Saturday. The 30th-seeded Yuan was defeated by Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-Three, 6-1. US Open semifinalist Muchova, 28, dominated the match and clinched the victory in a single hour and 20 minutes, reports Xinhua.

Wildcard player Wei lost to thirteenth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 7-5, 6-four. The 20-year-old Wei claimed the first win in her career at the tournament after beating Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania inside the first round. Wei showed good form in the foundation of Saturday’s game and once took the lead, but the Brazilian overturned the momentum gradually to take the upper hand.

Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, seeded fifth, will make her appearance at the 2024 China Open on Saturday night, confronting Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia inside the 2nd round after she got a main-round bye.