ROHAN BOPANNA and Sania Mirza defeated another Indian combination of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina 6-2, 7-6 (5) in a historic all-Indian mixed doubles first-round match at the Wimbledon on Friday (2).
It was the first time in open era that two Indian teams competed against each other at a Grand Slam tournament.
The contest also saw a Grand Slam debut for Ramkumar, who has made 21 attempts to qualify for the singles main draw of a tennis major.
While the first set ended quickly in favour of the veterans, Ramkumar and Raina presented a good fight in the second set, which even they led for a brief period with a break of serve.
Bopanna was clearly the best player on the court with his powerful serve and solid ground strokes from the baseline as well as the ability to execute a superior net game.
Meanwhile, Mirza has also moved to women’s doubles second round with Bethanie Mattek-Sands while Raina and her American partner Lauren Davis lost in straight sets to the US pair of Asia Muhammad and Jessica Pegula on Thursday (1).
In men's doubles, Bopanna and Divij Sharan are already out after losing their first round match.
(PTI)
