Australian Open mixed doubles: Bopanna seeded second, Paes-Bhupathi clash on the cards

Rohan Bopanna, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes gunning for glory in the mixed doubles event

The mixed doubles draw at the Australian Open has thrown up some exciting clashes and a chance for the participating Indians to bring home some silverware. In what will come as good news for Indian fans, three of the four Indians participating in the event have been seeded in the 32-team field.

The highest Indian seed is Rohan Bopanna, who has paired up with Slovakian Katarina Srebotnik. Bopanna-Srebotnik have been seeded second in the event and will open their campaign against Treat Huey and Raquel Kops-Jones.

Meanwhile, India’s backbone in doubles tennis for the past decade, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, are on course for a second round clash. With Bhupathi picking and choosing tournaments to play, this match could very well be the last that we see Paes and Bhupathi on the court together. Unfortunately, the two players would be on the opposite sides of the net.

However, for this clash to happen 8th seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina will have to overcome the unseeded Spanish pairing of Arantxa Parra Santonja and David Marrero. On the other hand, unseeded Leander Paes and Daniela Hantuchova will face James Duckworth and Ajla Tomljanovic in their opening round encounter.

India’s highest ranked women’s player, Sania Mirza, has paired up with Horia Tecau and has been seeded sixth for the mixed doubles event. The Indo-Romanian duo will face the pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Robert Lindstedt. It is interesting to note that Robert Lindstedt has partnered both Tecau as well as Mirza in previous tournaments. With each player knowing the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, this could well build up to be a close match.

Here’s wishing all the luck to the Indian contingent at the Australian Open.