Indians at US Open 2013: A look at the pairings for doubles events so far

Leander Paes would be pairing with Radek Stepanek

The hard court season post Wimbledon is now going to witness the final slam of the year – the US Open Championships. It has been the tournament where Indians have had their best results.

Leander Paes is 2-4 and 1-3 in men’s and mixed doubles finals while Bhupathi is 1-2 and 2-0 in men’s and mixed doubles. Rohan Bopanna too, reached his only Grand Slam final so far at the US Open in 2010.

Sania Mirza also had her career best showing in the US Open in 2005 when she reached the fourth round, falling to top seed Maria Sharapova. All this and much more make this Slam the favorite haunt of the Indian players.

In men’s singles, India’s top ranked player Somdev Devvarman is the country’s sole representative. He gained entry into the main draw as a qualifier after getting past Fabiano de Paula, Robby Ginepri and James Ward. He made his first appearance in a main draw in the 2009 US Open, and this is his 5th straight US Open appearance.

His first round opponent will be Lukas Lacko of Slovakia. It will not be a tough match if he plays at his best. His second round opponent could be Italian 20th seed Andreas Seppi. He is placed in an easy part of the draw with an off-colour Nicolas Almagro being the other seed.

There are some good combinations to look for in the men’s doubles draws. India’s Leander Paes will be partnering Czech Radek Stepanek in men’s doubles. They have reunited since the Wimbledon, though Paes is playing with Daniel Nestor this week at Winston-Salem. This duo is a strong team, and they were the finalists last year. A good show can be expected from them.

The next highest ranked pair including an Indian is the Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin duo. They played at the Wimbledon for the first time as a team, seeded 14th.

In the semifinals, they went down to top seeds and eventual champions Bryan brothers in a tough five-setter. They played again at Cincinnati where they were the semifinalists.

They were also scheduled to play at Winston-Salem but had to withdraw due to Roger-Vasselin’s sprain. Hopefully, he would be cured by the time the main draw action starts and the duo have a good outing.

These are the two potential teams to feature in the Year-End Championships to be held in London. Ranked 17th and 20th in the race, Bopanna-Roger-Vasselin and Paes-Stepanek would have to come up with strong performances in the upcoming tournaments to finish among the top 8 teams.

One advantage they have is that this year most of the doubles players have been changing partners frequently, and about 4 to 5 teams ranked above the Indians have parted ways.

Mahesh Bhupathi will be teaming up with German Philipp Petzschner, the 2011 US Open Champion. They will not be seeded in the draw.

This will be Mahesh’s final US Open as he is slated to retire at the end of this year. This is a new pairing and they will play together for the first time.

Being his final year, Bhupathi will not be in a position to qualify for the YEC, which along with the Australian Open trophy, has eluded him all theses years, in spite of his high ranking as he has switched partners frequently. He is a five time runner-up at the YEC.

India’s rising star Divij Sharan is also to feature in the men’s doubles draw. Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan will be his doubles partner. He, and regular partner Purav Raja, would not have made the cut as direct entries into the main draw in spite of their enhanced rankings.

Raja though, is among the list of alternates with compatriot Somdev Devvarman. They are however in the bottom of the list and hence might not make it to the main draw.

India’s sole representative in women’s doubles will be Sania Mirza. She will team up with China’s Zheng Jie, former world no.3 and two time Grand Slam champion. They played together at the Brussels Open before the French open. They then played at Toronto and Cincinnati, where they did not fare well.

Finally, at the New Haven Premier event, they reached the finals as the third seeds and are scheduled to play their finals on Saturday. This is Sania’s fourth final of the year.

Mixed doubles pairings are not available as of now. Leander Paes is speculated to pair with Martina Hingis or Daniela Hantuchova or even Venus Williams.

Sania Mirza has however stated that she would play with Horia Tecau of Romania. They had earlier reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon. Rest of the pairings are unknown as of now.