Melbourne: Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna’s search for a partner for the men’s doubles competition at the Australian Open ended on Saturday as he tied up with Japan’s Ben McLachlan for the season’s first Grand Slam. Bopanna had originally paired with Joao Sousa but the Portuguese contracted coronavirus, forcing them to pull out. Bopanna, who served a 14-day hard quarantine after arriving in Melbourne on 16 January, informed that Ben and he were in the same boat. “I got lucky there. Unfortunately Ben’s partner Raven Klassen had to pull out and Ben was looking for a partner, so we finally decided to commit and sign up together. I am looking forward to seeing how it goes. Definitely was not easy to find partners, happy to have found one,” Bopanna told PTI. Australian Open will begin on 8 February under strict COVID-19 protocols. Apart from Bopanna, India will have Divij Sharan in the men’s doubles event while Sumit Nagal will compete in the men’s singles on a wild card. Ankita Raina is waiting to find out if she gets ’lucky loser’ spot in the women’s singles.
Bopanna had originally paired with Joao Sousa but the Portuguese contracted coronavirus virus, forcing them to pull out
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