US Open 2021 | Rohan Bopanna-Ivan Dodig pair eliminated in the third round; Indian challenge ends
Rohan Bopanna (left) and Ivan Dodig lost the third round match via a tie-breaker
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India’s Rohan Bopanna and his partner Ivan Dodig has been eliminated in the third round of the men’s doubles event at the 2021 US Open. The pair managed to claim the first set, but were outclassed in the second, while their opponents clinched the game with a convincing display in the deciding set.
After inspiring wins in the first two rounds at the flushing meadows, the Indo-Croat pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig was eliminated in the third round (or, the round of 16). USA’s Rajeev Ram and Britain’s Joe Salisbury emerged victorious in the tie and will face the Australian pair of Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in the quarter-finals.
In spite of a slow start, Bopanna and Dodig managed to get back the rhythm as the first set progressed, forcing the game into a tie-breaker. The duo managed to take a 3-0 lead in the set-decider and were even 5-1 up, before eventually claiming the first set.
Bopanna and Dodig did have an opportunity to break in the fourth game of the second set, but they failed to capitalize on it. To make it worse, Dodig’s serve was broken in the ninth game, with the second set going in their rival’s favour. After a hard-fought third set, which went down to the wire, Rajeev – Salisbury secured the bragging rights with a convincing 7-3 display in the tie-breaker.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Novak Djokovic overcame USA's Jenson Brooksby after facing initial resistance in their round of 16 clashes in the men's singles event. The local bot claimed the first set, but the Serbian stormed away with the match to win it 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. In the women's singles event, second-ranked Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka breezed past Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 6-1.
