Melbourne: Yuki Bhambri and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus recorded a straight-set win on their Grand Slam debut but Divij Sharan’s Australian Open campaign ended in the first round, here today.
The 21-year-old Yuki and his Kiwi partner defeated Spaniards Roberto Bautista Agut and Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2 7-5 in their opening round contest, which lasted one hour and 11 minutes.
Yuki and Venus, who won wild card play-off tournament to enter the first major of the season, now have a tough job at hand now as they face 10th seeded Horea Tecau and Jean-Julien Roger in the second round.
Also advancing to the second round was veteran Indian Mahesh Bhupathi and his American partner Rajeev Ram. They came from behind to beat Santiago Giraldo from Columbia and Joao Sousa from Portugal 4-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and two minutes.
They now lock horns against the second-seeded pair of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.
However, the defeat of left-handed Divij denied India an all-win day. Divij and his Taipei partner Yen-Husn Lu lost 2-6 4-6 to Johan Brunstrom from Sweden and Frederik Nielsen from Denmark.
