Italian Open: Bopanna-Pavlasek exit ends India's challenge in men's doubles

IANS May 13, 2025 191 views

India's men's doubles campaign at the Italian Open concluded as Rohan Bopanna and Adam Pavlasek lost to the British pair of Salisbury and Skupski. The duo had earlier pulled off an impressive win against sixth seeds Venus and Mektić. Yuki Bhambri and Robert Galloway also exited early, falling to Granollers-Zeballos. The defeats mark a disappointing end for Indian hopes in Rome.

"The Britons broke early in both sets and maintained steady pressure with powerful serving and deft net play" – Match Report
Rome, May 13: India’s campaign at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia 2025 came to a disappointing end on Tuesday as veteran Rohan Bopanna and his Czech partner Adam Pavlasek bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s doubles event, suffering a straight-set defeat to the British duo of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski.

Key Points

1

Bopanna-Pavlasek lose 3-6, 3-6 to British duo Salisbury-Skupski

2

Earlier upset sixth seeds Venus-Mektić in first round

3

Bhambri-Galloway also exit in opening round

4

India's doubles challenge ends at Italian Open

Bopanna and Pavlasek went down 3-6, 3-6 in a contest that lasted just over an hour — 1 hour and 8 minutes to be exact — as the experienced British pairing proved too clinical on the red clay courts of Rome.

The defeat not only ended Bopanna’s run at the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 tournament but also brought curtains down on India’s participation in the men’s doubles event, following an earlier exit by Yuki Bhambri and his partner Robert Galloway in the opening round.

Bopanna and Pavlasek had shown some spark earlier in the tournament with a commendable victory over sixth seeds Michael Venus (New Zealand) and Nikola Mektić (Croatia) in the first round. After losing the opening set 4-6, the Indo-Czech pair bounced back strongly to take the second set in a tie-breaker and then clinched the match 10-4 in a dominant super tie-break finish.

However, against the formidable Salisbury-Skupski duo, Bopanna and Pavlasek were unable to find rhythm. The Britons broke early in both sets and maintained steady pressure with powerful serving and deft net play, giving their opponents little room to counter. The straight-set defeat marked a swift end to the duo's Rome journey.

India’s other representative, Yuki Bhambri, who teamed up with American Robert Galloway, also failed to make an impact at the Foro Italico. The Indo-American pair suffered a heavy 1-6, 2-6 loss against the fourth-seeded team of Marcel Granollers (Spain) and Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) in the opening round on Sunday. The match lasted just 53 minutes, with Bhambri and Galloway struggling to hold serve and unable to match the consistency of their higher-ranked opponents.

Reader Comments

A
Anirudh K.
Disappointing but not unexpected. Bopanna is 45 now and still competing at this level - that itself is remarkable! 🇮🇳 We need younger players to step up in doubles though. Where are the next-gen Indian doubles specialists?
P
Priya M.
The British pair was just too strong today. But hats off to Bopanna for that amazing first round win against the 6th seeds! At his age, still pulling off such victories is inspiring. Hope he continues for some more time 🤞
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Rahul S.
Clay has never been our strong suit. Indian players grow up playing on hard courts mostly. Maybe we need more clay court facilities in India if we want to compete better in European tournaments.
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Shalini T.
Both Bhambri and Bopanna's losses were one-sided affairs. Worrying trend. Maybe Indian tennis needs to rethink doubles strategy - more fixed pairings rather than changing partners frequently? Just a thought.
V
Vikram J.
Let's not be too harsh. Tennis is an individual sport and we're still producing world-class players despite limited infrastructure. Remember, Bopanna was world no.3 in doubles just last year! That's no small achievement.
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Neha P.
The way Bhambri-Galloway lost in just 53 minutes is concerning. At this level, they should at least put up a fight. Maybe need better physical conditioning when playing on clay? The European players seem much stronger on this surface.

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Tags:
Italian Open Rohan Bopanna Adam Pavlasek Joe Salisbury Neal Skupski ATP Masters 1000 Tennis