It was a poor day at the US Open as far as the Indians were concerned as they crashed out of the contention of the title one after another. While Somdev Devvarman, India’s lone hope in men’s singles, was the first casualty, it was Mahesh Bhupathi who followed it up with an early exit from the men’s doubles as well as the mixed doubles owing to some lacklustre display on the fifth day of the year’s final Grand Slam.
Somdev fought hard against his Italian opponent Andreas Seppi before bowing out of the tournament in the 2nd round. After a prolonged fight, lasting 2 hours and 40 minutes, Somdev went down to the 20th seed 6-7(8), 4-6, 5-7 though the scoreline suggested a cakewalk for Seppi, it was never a stroll in the park as the gutsy Indian hanged tough for every single point.
India’s senior pro Mahesh Bhupathi had a forgettable day at New York as he lost out in the first round of both the men’s doubles as well as the mixed doubles at the US Open. In men’s doubles the unseeded pair of Bhupathi and Philipp Petzchner got a hammering in the hands of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil as the scoreline read 3-6, 6-7 against the Bhupathi and his partner. Later in the day, Mahesh partnering comeback lady Martina Hingis was shown the door as they were defeated by Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt and Yung-Jan Chan of China 6-7, 6-7.
India’s dismal performance in the mixed doubles continued as Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza lost out in their first round encounters with their partners. While the third-seeded pair of Bopanna and Julia Georges(Ger) suffered a close defeat(7-6, 2-6, 6-10) in the hands of the unseeded pair of Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and American Abigail Sears, Sania Mirza with her Romanian partner Horia Tecau also suffered the same fate when they lost out a close encounter 6-4, 6-7, 4-10. The ousting of Bopanna and Sania, after Bhupathi’s defeat, marked the end of India’s challenge in the mixed doubles of the ongoing championship.
However all hopes are not yet over as both Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza marched on to the second round of the tournament with their respective men’s doubles and women’s doubles partners Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Zheng Jie. It was a walk in the park for Bopanna and his partner as they tamed the American duo of Bradley Klahn and Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4 with a dominating display. Sania Mirza with her in-form Chinese partner Zheng Jie overcame the challenge of Peurto Rican Monica Puig and Annika Beck of Germany 6-2, 6-2 as they maintained a firm control over the proceedings right from the very beginning. With Leander Paes already entering the 2nd round of the men’s doubles the previous night, India’s hopes of clinching at least one title in this edition of the US Open still stay alive.
