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Manas Dhamne, 15, wins first round in Australian Open boys' singles
Indian men's doubles pair, a late entry, also reached the second round at Melbourne Park
It was a good day for Indian Grand Slam debutants as Manas Dhamne and the pair of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N Sriram Balaji won the first round of boys' singles and men's doubles respectively.
Dhamne, the 15-year-old promising talent, began his junior Slam journey with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Australian wild card Jeremy Zhang. The Jeevan-Balaji pair, which got a late alternate entry in the doubles draw, stunned fifth seeds Ivan Dodig of Croatia and American Austin Krajicek 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-4 in their maiden Slam appearance.
The Indian combo has been on a consistent run on the Challenger Tour since last year and also made final of the ATP 250 Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune this month. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna swept past locals Jaimee Fourlis and Luke Saville 7-5, 6-3 in their mixed doubles opening round.
