Who are the Indian participants at Australian Open 2023?

The first Grand Slam of the year will have no representation from India in the Singles category.

The ATP Tour calendar of 2023 will kick off with the Australian Open starting on January 16, 2023. While there will be no Indian representation in the singles segment of the event, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza will vie for glory in the mixed doubles. The former women’s doubles champion will partner with World No. 11 Anna Danilina in the doubles segment. 

Mirza, 36, has already announced that she will draw the curtains on her illustrious career after the Dubai WTA in February. In 2022, Bopanna and Mirza were supposed to team up for the Grand Slam but an ankle injury ruled her out of the tournament. 

Talking to Firsportz during the Maharashtra Open, an excited Bopanna said, "We were supposed to play at the US Open 2022, but she got injured. We are hoping we can again get going. I think it is still important if we together can set an example for Indian players."

The experienced duo partnered in India’s 2016 Rio Olympics run where they missed out on a bronze against Radek Stepanek and Lucie Hradecka. In 2021, they went halfway to glory after crashing out against  Andreja Klepac and Jean-Julien Roger.

Calling it a day

The Hyderabad-born ace, Sania Mirza, started her career in 2003 and has been at the pinnacle of the Indian tennis circuit for almost a couple of decades. In her early years, She won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships girls' doubles title with Alisa Kleybanova. Her senior years have many titles as she won the Australia Open back in 2016 with Marina Hingis. The duo was also at the top of the rankings for a brief period after their triumph. 

In 2018, Mirza went on a two-year hiatus when she became a mother and came back strongly. However, she claims to have prioritised her health ahead of her professional career and decided to hang up her racquet after the WTA 1000 tournament. She told Curly Tales Middle East, "I'm 36, and honestly my body is beaten, that is the main reason for it. And I really don't have the capacity in my mind to emotionally push that much anymore. I turned pro in 2003. Priorities change, and now my priority is not to push my body to the limit every single day."

In another interview with wtatennis.com, she said that she had made up her mind last year. "I was going to stop right after the WTA Finals because we were going to make the WTA Finals, but I tore my tendon in my elbow right before the US Open so I had to pull out of everything. and honestly, the person that I am, I like to do things on my own terms. So I don't want to be forced out by injury. So I've been training. The plan is to try and retire in Dubai during the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships," added Sania Mirza.  

Other Indians in Australian Open

Rohan Bopanna, the longtime flagbearer of Indian Tennis, lost the first round with his doubles partner Botic van de Zandschulp in the Maharastra Open. He is going to team up with Matthew Ebden for the remainder of the season and participate in the Adelaide International 2 event. 

Among the rising stars, Maaya Rajeshwaran is going to participate in the U-14 segment of the Australian Open 2023 after getting the invitation from the authorities. She will be accompanied by Arnav Paparkar to the esteemed event.