Melbourne heat no match as all four Indians breeze through

The sweltering heat at Melbourne park could barely affect all four of our Indians in action at the Men's Doubles event today. With temperatures hitting a 40 degree high, the meltdowns are more than natural at the Australian Open. Contrary to that, withstanding the heat, Leander Paes, Purav Raja, Divij Sharan and Rohan Bopanna all began the day with sweeping straight-sets wins. Here is a recap of all three Men's Doubles matches here. 1) Rohan Bopanna/Roger-Vasselin vs Ryan Harrison/Vasek Pospisil 10th seeds Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Roger-Vasselin needed only an hour twelve minutes to send the Harrison/Pospisil duo packing. Ousting them in straight sets with a super 6-2 7-6(5), Bopanna and Vasselin booked their berth in the Round two at The Australian Open. The first set was a breezy affair for Rohan and Vasselin. Winning 79% of first serves and breaking the duo of Harrison/Pospisil twice, the Indian and his counterpart won a total of 30 points and eased their way into the second. The four aces from Harrison/Pospisil were still not enough to get them the set as they failed to convert despite having a break. Source: DNA India The second set saw Pospisil/Harrison finding their feet and we witnessed a tight set that eventually went to a tie-breaker that finally flew the Bopanna/Vasselin's way. The 82% win in first serves made the difference for Rohan and Vasselin else it was almost even for both in this set. The match had come alive in the second set when the duo of Harrison/Pospisil saved two match points but the two Double faults thereafter proved fatal and the set slipped away from their hands. Rohan and Vasselin registered a total of 71 points as compared to a 57 from Harrison/Pospisil in the entire duration of the match and cruised to victory.

2) Leander Paes / Purav Raja vs Basilashvilli / Haider-Maurer In just under an hour, The all Indian pair of Leander Paes and Purav Raja scripted a dominating win with 6-2 6-3 on board over the pair of Basilashvilli/Haider-Maurer on Court 19 at Melbourne Park. Winning a brilliant 90% of first serves and 72% second serves, Raja and Leander played some flawless tennis to thwart their opponents. A whopping 100% in break points won is in itself a testimony of the scintillating win for the Indian pair. Source: PTI Hammering down 5 aces and winning a total of 62 points Paes and Raja compelled the duo of Haider-Maurer/Basilashvilli into submission.

3) Divij Sharan / Rajeev Ram vs Viktor Troicki / M Copil In an hour and twenty-eight minutes, the duo of Sharan/Rajeev Ram took the match with a 7-6(5) 6-4 win. Struggling a bit towards the end of the first set that went to a tie-break, the combine of Divij/Ram registered an 84% of first serves in and took the tie-break 7-6 to bag the opener. The second set was a breezer as Divij Sharan/ Rajeev Ram simply cruised to the finish line hitting 12 winners and two aces. Source: India Today A 33% of break-points won for Divij/Rajeev was simply commendable as compared to zero of the Troicki/Copil's who also double faulted 4 times that cost them dear. It was indeed a brilliant start of the Double's campaign this morning for our Ace tennis stars and we hope they ride this momentum into the next round as well. Rohan Bopanna/ Roger-Vasselin will take on the combine of L.Mayer/J Sousa in Round 2 and Rajeev Ram/Divij Sharan will face Fognini/M. Granollers in the second round tomorrow in the Men's Doubles at Melbourne Park