India's best player Yuki Bhambri is back in the squad and that changes the dynamics for the three-day rubber. India terribly felt his absence when he was out of action in the last four years due to his knee injury.
The 29-year-old Indian went down in straight sets to Czech Republic's World No. 130 Tomas Machac 1-6, 3-6.
Bhambri, who returned to the Grand Slam stage after 2018 US Open due to knee injury, beat his 248th ranked Portuguese rival 6-4 6-2 in just 68 minutes.
The focus will be on Bhambri, who lost invaluable three years due to a troubling knee but in a few tournaments that he has played going into the fresh season, the talented Delhi player seems ready for the grind yet again.
The 29-year-old is currently preparing for the Australian Open after recovering from an injury and will kickstart his campaign with a protected ranking.
Yuki, who is competing on a Protected Ranking (PR) knocked out his seventh seed compatriot 6-1 6-4 in the opening round of the USD 2,048,855 hard court tournament.
Recently-crowned US Open champion Novak Djokovic's decision to opt out of the playoffs along with world number 33 Filip Krajinovic has raised hopes of an equal contest between the two teams.
Bhambri, who is world No 96 lost 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 5-7 to Frenchman Herbert in a match that lasted nearly two and half hours.
The Indian, ranked 85, lost his first round 6-2 3-6 3-6 2-6 in two hour and 38 minutes to the Italian.
AITA had exempted the country's top singles player Yuki considering that playing at the Grand Slams is crucial to secure ranking points, which would earn him a direct entry into the Tokyo Olympics.
Sanjita, who won a gold in women's 53kg class in the Gold Coast CWG in April, had tested positive for an anabolic steroid in a test conducted during the World Championships in USA in November last year.
Leander Paes returned to the Indian team for the Asian Games while the country's top player Yuki Bhambri was exempted as the AITA announced a 12-member squad.
Yuki, ranked 93, has told AITA that if he gets direct entry into the last Grand Slam of the season, he won't be available.
In the round of 32, which lasted around an hour and 17 minutes, the Indian pair were outplayed in straight sets 5-7, 3-6.
Bhambri and Sharan, who had also teamed up at the inaugural Maharashtra Open, sent Raja and Martin packing with a 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4 win in the opening round of the Roland Garros.
Bopanna and his French partner Roger-Vasselin began their Roland Garros campaign with a comfortable win over the American team of Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe.
Rohan Bopanna began his men's doubles campaign with an easy win along with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin in Paris on Tuesday.
Yuki earned 125 ranking points and a prize purse of USD 21,600 while Ramkumar got 75 points and USD 12,720 for his effort.
India will face China in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 second round at Tianjin, China on April 6-7.
Yuki will now meet world No 11 and eighth-seeded American Jack Sock in the second round of the tournament, having come through the qualifying round.
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