Tennis
Sriram Balaji-Reyes Varela beat Rohan Bopanna-Nicolas Barrientos at Adelaide ATP 250
Rohan Bopanna was playing with a new partner in Nicolas Barrientos after splitting up with Matthew Ebden.
Sriram Balaji (left) and Rohan Bopanna. (Photo Credit: India Tennis Daily/X)
Indian tennis veteran Rohan Bopanna did not have the best of starts to his 2025 season as he went down to fellow Indian Sriram Balaji and Miguel Reyes-Varela in the men's doubles opening round at the Adelaide Open 250, partnering Nicolas Barrientos on Monday.
Playing his first tournament with Barrientos after splitting up with Matthew Ebden at the end of last season, the Indo-Colombian pair started off well against Balaji and Reyes-Varela.
Bopanna and Barrientos looked comfortable in the first set, winning it 6-4. They, however, faltered soon after.
Bopanna-Barrientos could only convert one of the six break points they had in the match as Balaji and his Mexican partner took complete control of the play from the second set.
Balaji and Reyes-Varela broke twice in the second set in the sixth and eighth game to win it 6-2 and force a tie breaker at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.
The two pairs were evenly matched in the tiebreaker, but a double fault with the scores reading 7-7 put Bopanna-Barrientos under pressure and they never recovered.
Balaji-Reyes Varela won 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 in a match which lasted an hour and 15 minutes.
Balaji-Reyes Varela will now take on Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
