Meet the amazing Indian players who will take the court at US Open 2022

Sania Mirza

A winner of six Grand Slam titles, Sania Mirza is definitely India’s tennis queen.

The upcoming edition of US Open is going to mark the end of an era for Indian tennis as Sania Mirza is set to retire after the New York tournament. Sania, who turned pro in 2003, is easily the best women’s tennis player produced by India and is counted on the level of Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes as Indian tennis legends.

Noteworthy, Bhupathi and Paes had a total of 30 Grand Slams between them combined, out of which eight were the US Open trophies across two categories: doubles and mixed doubles.

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Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Sania has won the US Open twice: in Mixed Doubles in 2014, and in Women’s Doubles in 2015. Out of her six Grand Slam wins, two have come at the Flushing Meadows and therefore, the Indian tennis star will look to end her career on a high when she competes in the said categories in the 2022 edition, which is scheduled to go underway on August 29.

US Open Chances: Women Doubles

Mirza has won six Grand Slams doubles titles in her career, three in women’s doubles and three in mixed doubles. Interestingly, she’s won one of each category at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, only not tasting success at the French Open… Whereas her Grand Slam titles in the women’s doubles came in a two-year period with two titles in 2015 and one in 2016, her success in mixed doubles was far more spread out, winning in 2009, 2012 and 2014.

• When Sania Mirza won the women’s doubles in 2015, she was partnered by Martina Hingis, who has a total of 25 Grand Slam titles to her name.
• With Mirza’s career coming to a close at the end of the 2022 season, she’s enjoyed success alongside Czech player Lucie Hradecka. They reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 at the Qatar Open and Italian Open in 2022 and are proving to be a tough partnership to beat.

Mirza is yet to confirm whether she will partner Hradecka in the women’s doubles this year at Flushing Meadows, nor does she have a confirmed a partner in the mixed doubles.

So, we’ll have to wait and see who she shows up with. Her best chance of a good run is in the women’s doubles.

Despite a first-round exit last year and being absent in the 2020 edition, results have been good in the women’s doubles in New York over the last few years with three semi-finals, a quarter-final and that win back in 2015, between the years 2013 and 2017.   

Ankita Raina

Along with Sania, India’s young tennis player Ankita Raina has also entered the main draw of the women’s doubles category. Interestingly, the 29-year-old Ankita, who made her Grand Slam debut just last year, did not feature in any of the first three major events this year. In the 2021 US Open, Ankita played in the women’s doubles category but she and her partner were eliminated from the first round. She played in all four Grand Slams last year but failed to cross the opening round.

Rohan Bopanna

Another name that has become popular among tennis fans in Indian households is Rohan Bopanna. Known for his great forehand crosses and backhands, Bopanna has won a total of 21 titles in his doubles career, including the French Open in 2010. He will be in action in US Open 2022’s doubles category.

US Open Chances: Quarter Finals

Compared to Bopanna, Sania Mirza is a spring chicken. Whereas Mirza is retiring at 35, 42-year-old Bopanna has no plans to call it a day just yet.

But the US Open hasn’t been a particularly happy hunting ground for him over the past few years… Having made the final in 2010 and the semi-final the next year, that’s as good as it got for Bengaluru-born Bopanna: his best results were just three quarter-finals in the next 10 years.

However, 2022 has been a good year for Rohan Bopanna so far, who was mostly partnered with either fellow Indian Ramkumar Ramanathan, Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop, or Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

• Bopanna won the men’s doubles title in Pune and Adelaide, both times alongside Ramanathan and was also a losing finalist in Doha (alongside Shapovalov) and Hamburg (with Middelkoop), boasting a 36-19 winning record in 2022.

Up next is the US Open, where he will be targeting another quarter final. Let’s see if he can pull it off. 

Divj Sharan

India’s 36-year-old Divj Sharan will also be featured in the men’s doubles category. Sharan, who had a fine run in the junior days when he was ranked as high as No. 5, turned pro in 2004. Since then, the left-handed player has managed to win only five ATP 500 titles in doubles. His best finish in the US Open happened in 2013 when he reached the third round.

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Sadly, the likes of Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sumit Nagal, and Ramkumar Ramanathan, played the qualifiers to enter the main draw of men’s singles but neither of them managed to qualify ahead of the 2022 edition of the US Open.

Nevertheless, we do hope some major Indian victory will come at the 2022 US Open. You can support your favorite at 10CRIC!