US Open Doubles Preview: Sania Mirza, Bopanna and Paes to play on Day 5
With an exciting Day 4 out of the way, the US Open resumes play on day 5 with the second round of women’s and men’s doubles matches and the first round of the mixed doubles event.
Some key results from the doubles events that took place on the previous day are Leander Paes and Fernando Verdasco’s win over Florian Mayer and Frank Moser, and top-seeded Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s comfortable win over the American doubles pair of Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria. Third seeds Lucie Hradecka and Marcin Matkowski were upset by the American pair of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey.
Here are some of the important matches from Day 5 of play:
Sania Mirza/ Bruno Soares (1) vs Andrea Hlavackova/Lukasz Kubot
India’s Sania Mirza will compete in the first round of the mixed doubles on Day 5 of the US Open. She is already through to the second round of the women’s doubles after she and Martina Hingis won their opening match against Americans Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria
Mirza will be partnered by Brazilian Bruno Soares in their match-up against the Czech Andrea Hlavackova and Lukasz Kubot of Poland.
The Indo-Brazilian pair are top seeds going into the competition after winning the 2014 edition of the tournament.
Prediction: Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares to take this one in straight sets.
Fernando Verdasco/Belinda Bencic vs Yung-Jan Chan/Rohan Bopanna (2)
Rohan Bopanna will also take to the courts on Day 5 when he partners Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan in Round 1. The 35-year-old Indian is also competing in the men’s doubles category, where he and Romanian partner Florian Mergea beat Americans Krajicek and Monroe in straight sets.
The second seeds will come up against a tough pair of Belinda Bencic and Fernando Verdasco, with the latter playing a second match in the men’s doubles later in the day with India’s Leander Paes.
Prediction: Rohan Bopanna and Yung-Jan Chan to ease through to the next round.
Eugenie Bouchard/Nick Kyrgios vs Elina Svitolina/Artem Sitak
Unseeded pair Eugenie Bouchard and Nick Kyrgios have Elina Svitolina and Artem Sitak as opponents in their first round mixed doubles clash at the Flushing Meadows. The Canadian number 24 and the Australian number 37 have competed in the single’s competitions as well, with the former entering the third round of the women’s singles while the latter fell to Andy Murray in four sets on Day 4.
Prediction: Eugenie Bouchard and Nick Kyrgios to go through the next round, although they might encounter some trouble on the way.
Olga Govortsova/Lesia Tsurenko vs Casey Dellacqua/Yaroslava Shvedova (4)
The Belarussian-Ukranian duo of Olga Govortsova and Lesia Tsurenko will face fourth seeds Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in the second round of the women’s doubles. Despite both Olga and Lesia losing their second round singles matches recently, they reached the second round of the doubles competition courtesy a 6-7 6-3 7-5 win over Kateryna Bondarenko and Anastasia Rodionova.
Australian Dellacqua and Kazakh Shvedova qualified for the second round after beating Gavrilova and Van Uytvanck 2-6 6-4 6-0.
Prediction: The fourth-seeded pair to move on to the third round.
Irina-Camelia Begu/Raluca Olaru vs Garbine Muguruza/Carla Suarez-Navarro (8)
The eighth-seeded Spanish combination of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro will play in the second round of the men’s doubles after taking three sets to beat Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm and Luxembourg's Mandy Minella. Their Romanian opponents got through the first round with a win against Oksana Kalashnikova and Katalin Marosi 2-6 6-3 6-2.
Prediction: The two Spaniards to win this one in three sets.
Rameez Junaid/Santiago Giraldo vs Jamie Murray/John Peers (8)
Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Australian partner John Peers will be looking to move forward to the next round of the US Open when they face the unseeded Santiago Giraldo and Rameez Junaid. The number 8 seeds reached the second round of the men’s doubles when they thrashed Bjorn Fratangelo and Dennis Novikov in straight sets.
Their opponents took four sets to beat Chilean Julio Peralta and American Matt Seeberger, winning the match 4-6 6-4 6-4.
Prediction: Murray and Peers to win this one in a competitive affair.
Steve Johnson/Sam Querrey vs Leander Paes/Fernando Verdasco
Leander Paes is the third Indian to feature on Day 5 of the US Open. The 42-year-old is already through to the second round of the mixed doubles with Martina Hingis, and has reached Round 2 of the men’s doubles with Spanish partner Fernando Verdasco after dispatching the German duo of Mayer and Moser in straight sets.
Their opposition will be in the form of Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey. The Americans reached the second round of the competition with a four-set upset of Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan.
Prediction: It will be too tight to call a winner in this match although Paes and Verdasco should nick this one, despite Johnson and Querrey upsetting the Bryan brothers.