Australian Open: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden pair bows out in 1st round

MELBOURNE: Rohan Bopanna and Aussie Matthew Ebden, the tenth seeds in the men’s doubles draw at Melbourne Park, bowed out to the Austrian combine of Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler in the first round of the Australian Open.
The Indo-Aussie pairing, who had the support of fans on Court No. 3, fell 3-6, 5-7 in 69 minutes on Friday.
Ebden was broken early in the opening set and though the tenth seeds had a chance to break back in the seventh game on Erler’s serve, — with the Austrians trailing 15-40 — a combination of solid serving and unforced errors at the net set the Erler Miedler team up to wrest early advantage.
Ebden, who came into the contest a tad late, picked up his level in the second set. The tenth seeds, however, fell behind 0-40 on Bopanna’s serve in the 11th game. There was no coming back then for the seeded pairing.
Bopanna will team up with Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles, the duo plays Aussie wildcards Jaimee Fourlis and Luke Saville in the first round on Saturday