Melbourne, January 17 (HS): Indian star tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Chinese partner Shuai Zhang entered the second round of the Australian Open mixed doubles with a stunning 6-4, 6-4 win over Ivan Dodig and Kristina Mladenovic here on Friday.

The former world's top ranked, who was eliminated early from the men's doubles, showed his skills with Zhang, and won the match that lasted one hour and 12 minutes.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Bopanna and Zhang will face the winner of the match between the fourth seeded pair of Taylor Townsend of America and Hugo Nieves of Monegasque and the wild card Australian pair of Madison Inglis and Jason Kuber.

The Indo-Chinese pair started strongly and took a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Though Croatian Dodig and Frenchwoman Mladenovic broke Zhang's serve to reduce the gap to 3-2, Bopanna held firm under pressure and won the first set 6-4.

The second set started with both pairs exchanging breaks in a tight contest.

Trailing 3-4, the Indo-Chinese pair capitalised on Dodig and Mladenovic's mistakes, including two costly double faults. They kept up the courage to win the next two games, with Zhang and Bopanna backing each other up with steady serve and sharp forehand displays.

While Dodig and Mladenovic created 17 break points throughout the match, their failure to convert crucial opportunities proved costly for them. Bopanna and Zhang, on the other hand, displayed a brilliant performance, converting five of their nine break points.

Compared to Dodig/Mladenovic, the Indo-Chinese pair displayed consistency, winning 31 of 48 service points, while they were efficient in terms of returns, winning 10 of 34 return points compared to 17 of 48 return points of their opponents.

Bopanna and Zhang played well at the net with four volley winners and managed to hit four passing shots. Their groundstroke accuracy was evident, hitting three forehand winners, while Dodig/Mladenovic failed.

Bopanna made it to the final in 2023 with Sania Mirza and will be looking to make up for the loss this time.

Bopanna became the world No. 1 in doubles after winning his first major doubles title at the 2024 Australian Open with Matthew Ebden, becoming the oldest player in the world to achieve the feat at the age of 43.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar