Aus Open: Balaji, Miguel Reyes-Varela bow out of men's doubles

Melbourne, Jan 18 (IANS) India’s N. Sriram Balaji and Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela were knocked out of the Australian Open men’s doubles after a hard-fought second-round loss to Portugal’s Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral on Saturday.

The closely contested match ended 6-7(7), 6-4, 3-6 after two hours and nine minutes of intense action at Melbourne Park.

The first set was a gripping contest, lasting 56 minutes. Neither pair managed to break serve, leading to a tiebreaker. Borges and Cabral kept their composure under pressure, edging out the Indo-Mexican duo to take the set.

In the second set, Balaji and Reyes-Varela started strong, breaking early for a 2-1 lead and maintaining their momentum to go up 5-4. They showcased powerful serves and precise winners to seal the set with an ace and a forehand winner, levelling the match.

The deciding set saw Borges and Cabral take the upper hand with a crucial break in the fourth game, giving them a 3-1 lead. Both pairs held serve until the ninth game, where the Portuguese duo secured another break with powerful serves and sharp forehand winners to close out the match.

India’s hopes in the tournament now rest on Rohan Bopanna in the mixed doubles. Bopanna and his Chinese partner Zhang Shuai advanced to the Round of 16 with a straight-sets win over the French-Croatian team of Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig, 6-4, 6-4.

Bopanna and Zhang will look to continue their momentum as they aim for a deep run in the mixed doubles event.

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