Balaji-Varela pair ousted from Australian Open after tough loss to Borges-Cabral

Melbourne: India's N Sriram Balaji and his Mexican partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela bowed out of the Australian Open men’s doubles after a second-round loss to the Portuguese pair of Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral here on Saturday.

The closely-contested match ended with a scoreline of 6-7 (7), 6-4, 3-6 after two hours and nine minutes of intense play at Melbourne Park.

The first set was a gripping affair that lasted 56 minutes with neither pair able to break serve as it went into a tiebreaker, where Borges and Cabral held their composure under pressure to go one set up.

The Indo-Mexican pair started strong, taking an early 2-1 lead and maintaining their momentum to go up 5-4.

However, the Portuguese duo responded well, holding their serve to make it 5-5, and then 6-6, pushing the set into a tiebreak. Borges and Cabral did well to grab the set.

With powerful serves, precise winners, and crucial breakpoints, the Indo-Mexican duo maintained control throughout the second set and sealed it with an ace and a forehand winner to bring the match on level terms.

In the decider, Borges and Cabral broke their rivals in the fourth game to go 3-1 up before both holding their serves.

Borges and Cabral then displayed urgency with powerful serve and the former's forehand winners to earn a break in the ninth game and eliminate their rivals.

India will now have Rohan Bopanna in the fray in the mixed doubles.

Bopanna and his Chinese partner Zhang Shuai advanced to the round of 16, defeating French-Croatian duo Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-4.