Australian Open 2018: Yuki Bhambri VS Marcos Baghdatis - Telecast, live streaming, date, start time and where to watch online

By Mohak Arora

Modified Jan 27, 2018 20:22 GMT

Yuki Bhambri has qualified for the 2018 Australian Open and will face the veteran Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the first round of the Australian Open which has a total of 128 participants.

He beat Canada’s Brayden Schnur 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of qualifiers in an hour and 50 minutes. Bhambri then out-classed Spain's Carlos Teberner in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 in only 57 minutes in the second round of the qualifiers to set up a clash with World No.140 Peter Polansky in the third round of the qualifiers.

In the third and final qualifying round, the 25-year-old beat Canadian Peter Polansky 1-6 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 55 minutes. The Indian player had a poor first set but staged a good comeback to qualify for the year's first Grand Slam.

It will be the third appearance for Bhambri in the Australian Open after two consecutive appearances in 2015 and 2016 where he lost to Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych respectively.

The other Indian player who managed to reach the third round of the qualifiers, Ramkumar Ramanathan, slipped up in the final round to qualify for the Grand Slam. It could have been the first Grand Slam appearance of his career. He lost 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 to Canadian Vasek Popisil after putting in a hard and long shift on the court.

In other first-round matches, the defending champion Roger Federer will face the World No. 51 Alijaz Bedene while the Spanish ace Rafael Nadal will face Dominic veteran Victor Estrella. David Ferrer will face the Russian Andrey Rublev and Novak Djokovic will face the American Donald Young. World No.5 Dominic Thiem will face the Argentine Guido Pella.