Bopanna, Divij advance in doubles at French Open

Divij Sharan and Marcelo Demoliner registered a hardfought win over Marton Fucsovics and Roberth Lindstedt in the men's doubles first round at the French Open, in London, on Wednesday.

The Indo-Brazilian combine of Sharan and Demoliner beat the Hungarian-Swede duo of Fucsovics and Lindstedt 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in a match lasting one hour 48 minutes.

Sharan and Lindstedt face Henri Kontinen and John Peers in the second round. Kontinen outplayed Leonardo Mayer and Joao Sousa in straight sets.

Bopanna-Copil shock sixth seeds

India's Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Marius Copil got off to a rousing start at the French Open, knocking out sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in the first round, in Paris, on Tuesday.

The unseeded Bopanna-Copil combo beat the South African-New Zealand pair 6-3, 7-6(1) victory in  78 minutes.

Bopanna, who recently became father to a baby girl, and Copil saved three break-points and converted one of the three chances they earned to emerge triumphant.

The Indian, a quarter-finalist at the French Open last year, thus saved 360 points.

Divij Sharan and Leander Paes are other Indians in the men's doubles. Sharan is partnering Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner while Paes is teaming with France’s Benoit Paire.