Yuki Bhambri and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus registered a straight sets victory on their Grand Slam debut as a team, but Divij Sharan's Australian Open campaign ended in the first round, in Melbourne, on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old Yuki and Venus needed 71 minutes to get the better of Spaniards Roberto Bautista Agut and Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 7-5 in their opening match.
The pair, which won the wild card play-off tournament in China to make it to the season’s first major, meets tenth seeds Horea Tecau and Jean-Julien Roger in the second round.
Also advancing to the second round was veteran Indian Mahesh Bhupathi and his American partner, Rajeev Ram.
They came from behind to beat Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo and Joao Sousa of Portugal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and two minutes.
They will meet the second seeded pair of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares.
However, Divij and his Taipei partner Yen-Husn Lu lost 2-6, 4-6 to Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen.
Image: Yuki Bhambri
