India’s double ace and former World No 1 Rohan Bopanna and his new Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos suffered a shocking exit in the opening round of the ongoing Australian Open 2025 on Tuesday (Jan 14). 

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The pair, currently ranked 14th, was beaten by Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar with a score of 5-7, 6-7 (5). The match lasted an hour and 54 minutes. The Indo-Colombian duo struggled to find momentum against the unseeded team from Spain.

Also Read: Australian Open 2025: 'I enjoyed it,' says Novak Djokovic on first win with coach Andy Murray

Defending doubles champ Bopanna out

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Rohan won the Australian Open doubles title in 2024 with his former partner Matthew Ebden. Rohan and Ebden had a successful two-year partnership. 

During their partnership, the duo won the Australian Open title last year along with the ATP Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells in 2023 and the Miami Open in 2024. The Indo-Australian pair also reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2024 and reached the No. 1 rankings in the doubles category.

On Sunday (Jan 12), Sumit Nagal, the sole Indian singles tennis player in Melbourne, also crashed out after losing to Czechia’s Tomas Machac in the first round of the men’s singles event. The 27-year-old, seeded 91st in the ATP Rankings for singles, lost to his world No. 25 opponent 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 in a battle that lasted nearly two hours.

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Meanwhile, Indian interest continues in the doubles event despite Bopanna’s loss, as other Indian players Yuki Bhambri paired with France’s Albano Olivetti, N Sriram Balaji alongside Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, and Rithvik Bollipalli partnered up with the USA’s Ryan Seggerman are set to begin their doubles campaign on Wednesday (Jan 15).

Medvedev faces fine

Daniil Medvedev faces a hefty fine after mangling his racquet and a net camera in an epic temper tantrum before battling through a five-set roller coaster to start his Australian Open on Tuesday. The feisty Russian, a three-time finalist in Melbourne, lost his cool in the third set before rallying to beat 418th-ranked Kasidit Samrej 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.