PUNE: Rohan Bopanna will have a new mixed doubles partner at the Australian Open beginning on January 15. He will be playing with Hungary’s Timea Babos, who had teamed up with Czech Republic’s Andrea Hlavackova to win the doubles title at the year-end WTA finals.
The news came as a surprise as Bopanna had some success with his previous partner, Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski. The 37-year-old had, in fact, won his maiden Slam, last year’s French Open, with the Canadian. But they apparently decided to split as they had lost a few close matches.
“After the French Open, we played in the next two Slams as well but we decided to split because there were certain close moments in matches that we couldn’t finish,” the Coorg native, who is in Pune to defend his doubles title at the Tata Open Maharashtra, said. “When we began the association (US Open 2016), we decided to take it event by event.” That same formula will be in play with Babos. “At the moment we are just fixed for the Australian Open.”
While he opens with Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan on Tuesday, he will spend 2018 playing with Edouard Roger-Vasselin. But the partnership isn’t new as they had teamed up last Wimbledon.