Aus Open: Bopanna-Nestor advance, Bhupathi-Melzer exit

Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor went through several anxious moments before making it to the second round, even as Mahesh Bhupathi and Jurgen Melzer failed to, in the men's doubles at the Australian Open, in Melbourne, on Thursday.

Bopanna and Canada's Nestor, seeded seventh, fought off a spirited challenge from Marcos Baghdatis and Marinko Matosevic, prevailing 7-6(2), 7-5 in an hour and 46 minutes.

There was not much to differentiate between the two teams as they hit an equal number of aces (10) and committed the same number of double-faults (5).

Bopanna-Nestor won 87 points, only eight more than their opponents.

They next take on Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and Belarusian Max Mirnyi, who got the better of Australia's James Duckworth and Luke Saville 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 6-2 in their first round match.

Earlier, Bhupathi and Austrian partner Melzer lost 4-6, 3-6 to the Argentine team of Diego Schwartzman and Horacio Zeballos in 67 minutes.

Bhupathi continues to struggle in his comeback, having returned to on-court action after a nine-month break during which he set up the IPTL.

His first comeback tournament was the Chennai Open, where he lost in the second round with compatriot Saketh Myneni.

Bhupathi-Melzer committed a staggering 27 unforced errors to just nine of their opponents, who served extremely well.

The first set was a close affair with both teams holding serve till the ninth game. Bhupathi was terrific at the net, especially with his wristy drop volleys.

The 6 feet 2 inch Zeballos’s big serves made a big difference to the outcome of the match.

In an ominous start to the second set, Bhupathi was broken in the second game. Schwartzman hit a service winner to make it deuce and the Indian only helped their opponents by double-faulting, which put them down by a break point.

The Argentines got the break thanks to an unforced error by Bhupathi.

Schwartzman served solid to make it 3-0. Bhupathi and Melzer had a chance to get that break back on Zeballos's serve but the tall southpaw yet again came up with big serves to save both.

In just 19 minutes they had a commanding 4-1 lead.

Bhupathi and Melzer held serve after that but the lead stayed with the Argentines and they easily pocketed the set and match.

Bhupathi's forehand went wide to hand the Argentines two match-points and they converted first when a double-handed backhand by the Indian kissed the net.