Australian Open 2025: Why did Rohan Bopanna and Zhang Shuai get a walkover in the mixed doubles second round? 

Rohan Bopanna and Zhang Shuai got a walkover in their second-round match of mixed doubles at the 2025 Australian Open on Sunday, January 19. The Indo-Chinese pair made their way into the quarterfinals of the event at Melbourne Park after Monaco’s Hugo Nys and USA’s Taylor Townsend did not take part in the second-round clash.

Nys failed to recover in time from an ankle sprain that he had before the clash against Bopanna and Zheng. 33-year-old Nys also practiced on Monday to assess the extent of his injury and take a call on participating in men’s doubles with France’s Eduard Roger-Vasselin.

For a place in the semi-finals, Bopanna and Zheng will next face the winner of the clash between Timea Babos-Marcelo Aravelo and the wildcard pair of Olivia Gadecki-John Peers.

---

Rohan Bopanna, Zhang Shuai march along in the Australian Open 2025

Bopanna and Zhang have had a decent run thus far in the hardcourt Major. In the first round, they defeated Ivan Dodig and Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-4. Bopanna is also India’s only remaining hope in the ongoing Grand Slam tournament. Earlier, the likes of N Sriram Balaji, Sumit Nagal, and Rithvik Bollipalli failed to go deep into the championship.

Bopanna also could not make his way into the second round of men’s doubles with his new partner Nicolas Barrientos of Colombia. Back in 2023, Bopanna reached the mixed doubles final along with Sania Mirza, and he would be looking to go all the way this time around. Last year, Bopanna won the Australian Open men’s doubles title with Matthew Ebden of Australia.

But the duo parted ways after the ATP Finals 2024. Last year, Bopanna also retired from Indian tennis after the Paris Olympics 2024, where he exited in the first round while partnering with N Sriram Balaji. Bopanna also became the oldest World No.1 last year in doubles at 44.