It was a day of mixed fortunes for Indian players at the 2017 French Open today as former World No. 1 and French Open fourth seed Sania Mirza and her partner Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan lost their first-round match against Daria Gavrilova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; the Australian-Russian combine won 7-6, 1-6, 6-2 in a hotly fought match that elicited a decider for both sides.
Mirza continues her long-term partnership with Croat ace Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles; the two are the No. 2 seeds here and will take on Croatia’s Mate Pavic and partner Darija Jurak.
Compatriot Leander Paes had better luck with his American partner Scott Lipsky; the pair defeated up-and-coming Korean player Hyeon Chung and his partner, seasoned doubles player Radu Albot 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 to progress to Round 2.
Paes and Lipsky will play the all-Spanish combine of David Marrero and Tommy Robredo in their Round of 32 match.
The Indian, continuing what has been a very successful tennis partnership, will pair up with former singles, doubles and mixed doubles World No. 1 Martina Hingis, with the two taking on Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and her South African mixed doubles partner, Raven Klaasen, against whom Paes is a seasoned competitor.
Rohan Bopanna is also through with his partner, singles World No. 23 Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay. The pair won the Monte Carlo Masters title together this year, with Cuevas in a purple patch of form in 2017, especially on clay; he has won singles and doubles titles in Rio, Sao Paulo and at Monte Carlo, the latter with Bopanna himself.
Cuevas is also through to Round 2 in the singles, taking a straight sets victory over a French wildcard in Round 1.
Bopanna and Cuevas will now be pitted against doubles specialist Treat Huey and his partner Denis Istomin, who has now become best known, perhaps, for ousting defending champion Novak Djokovic early from the 2017 Australian Open.
Paired with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski, Bopanna will also contest the first round of the mixed doubles against the all-Australian combine of Matt Reid and Jessica Moore.
All mixed doubles ties will take place on Friday, the 2nd of June, 2017.
