India's men's doubles tennis duo of Anirudh Chandrasekar and Vijay Sundar Prashanth has been granted a wildcard entry into the 2024 Australian Open.
The Indian pair was awarded the seventh and final wildcard for the men's doubles category. Concurrently, the women's doubles wildcard was secured by the Chinese team of Wang Yafan and Yuan Yue.
Chandrasekar and Prashanth kicked off their season at the Canberra International, where they competed against Andrew Harris and Matthew Christopher Romios. In a closely fought battle, the Indian pair was edged out with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 8-10.
Their journey continued at the ASB Classic in Auckland, where they faced Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the opening round but were defeated with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-5.
Chandrasekar and Prashanth experienced a tough loss in the finals of the Bengaluru Open 2023 doubles. Their potential was duly noted by the Australian Open selection committee, which led to their wildcard entry in the men's doubles category. This presents a significant opportunity for Chandrasekar and Prashanth to showcase their talents on one of tennis's most prestigious platforms.
High Expectations for Bopanna-Ebden Pair
India's Rohan Bopanna and Australia's Mathew Ebden are set to kick off their 2024 season with high aspirations at the Australian Open. Ranked second in the world in men's doubles, they recently reached the final at the Adelaide International, only to be defeated by Rajiv Ram and Joe Salisbury.
Bopanna, marking his 107th Grand Slam appearance, has been a consistent participant in both men's and mixed doubles across all four Grand Slams since 2011.
Despite never advancing beyond the third round in the men's doubles at the Australian Open, Bopanna aims to improve his record at this year's first Grand Slam.
The duo's recent achievements include reaching the final of the 2023 US Open and the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2023. They are determined to maintain this momentum into a successful 2024 campaign.
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