How many titles has India won at US Open?

Rahul Iyer

How many titles has India won at US Open? image

On Thursday, India's Rohan Bopanna and Australia's Matthew Ebden qualified for the men's doubles US Open final, beating French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pieree-Hugues Herbert 7-6(7), 6-2 in the semifinal.

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The duo will now take on the defending champions of USA's Rajeev Ram and Britain's Joe Salisbury in the final on Friday night (IST).

Here, The Sporting News takes a look at all of the past US Open titles won by Indians.

MORE: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden enter US Open 2023 final

1999: Mahesh Bhupathi and Ai Sugiyama, mixed doubles

In 1997, Mahesh Bhupathi became the first Indian to win a major title, winning the French Open with Japanese star Rika Hiraki. Two years later, he added to that by lifting the US Open title with Hiraki's compatriot Ai Sugiyama.

Entering the tournament as the second seeds, the pair earned a relatively comfortable victory in the final, beating the unseeded American duo of Kimberly Po and Donald Johnson 6-4, 6-4. 

2002: Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi, men's doubles

In 2002, Bhupathi won his first men's doubles title alongside Belarusian Max Mirnyi in a gruelling tournament. After winning the first two rounds comfortably, the third seeded-pair were pushed all the way by fifth seeds Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett in the quarterfinal, eventually winning 7-6(7), 5-7, 7-6(7).

They then had to overcome the now-legendary pairing of American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinal before playing emerging victorious in another three-setter against Czech duo Jiří Novák and Radek Štěpánek.

 

 

2005: Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniela Hantuchová, mixed doubles

In 2005, Bhupathi won his last US Open title at the age of 31, with a mixed doubles victory alongside Daniela Hantuchová of Slovakia.

The pair were unseeded in the draw but punched well above their weight to knock out the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds in consecutive rounds to meet another unseeded duo of Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjić in the final. Bhupathi and Hantuchová managed an easy 6-4, 6-2 victory. 

2006: Leander Paes and Martin Damm, men's doubles

One year later, Leander Paes became the first Indian after Bhupathi to win a US Open title. Alongside Czech Republic's Martin Damm, he lifted the men's doubles title in 2006.

After plain sailing in the first three rounds, Paes and Damm came up against unseeded duo Leoš Friedl and Mikhail Youzhny who had shocked top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the third round. After beating them in three sets, the Indian-Czech pair won two more three-setters against Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett, and Max Mirnyi and Jonas Björkman to lift the title.

2008: Leander Paes and Cara Black, mixed doubles

In 2008, Paes teamed up with Zimbabwe's Cara Black for the US Open. The pair were ranked as the fifth seeds for the tournament.

They were pitted against wildcard pair Melanie Oudin and Donald Young in the first round, before getting a walkover against Caroline Wozniacki and Marcin Matkowski in the second. In a stroke of luck, their next three opponents were all unseeded, ending with Liezel Huber and Jamie Murray in the final. They won 7-6(8), 6-4 and lifted the title.

2009: Leander Paes and Lukáš Dlouhý, men's doubles

Paes went back-to-back for US Open titles in 2009, as he joined forces with Czech Republic's Lukáš Dlouhý for the men's doubles event. The pair were seeded fourth.

After beating three unseeded pairs, Paes and Dlouhý overcame seventh-seeds Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman in a three-setter quarterfinal. They then dumped out first seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in a thriller of a semifinal before coming back to win the final 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles.

2013: Leander Paes and Radek Štěpánek, men's doubles

In 2013, Paes made history by becoming the oldest man to win a men's double Grand Slam title when he lifted the US Open at the age of 40 alongside Radek Štěpánek.

After a facile first round win, the pair played three-setters all the way from the second round to the semifinal, where they ended the Bryan brothers' bid to win a calendar Grand Slam. In the final, they managed to overcome Bruno Soares and Alexander Peya 6-1, 6-3. 

2014: Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares, mixed doubles

If 2013 ended in heartbreak for Soares, he was able to recover the next year, winning the mixed doubles title along with Sania Mirza, who became the first Indian woman to win a US Open title.

The pair were favourites for the title as the first seed, but the victory was far from easy. Mirza and Soares had to play tiebreak sets in every match from the second round all the way to the final, where they were pushed by unseeded pair Abigail Spears and Santiago González, but emerged victorious.

2015: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, women's doubles

In 2015, Mirza won a US Open title for the second consecutive year as she paired up with Switzerland's Martina Hingis to lift the women's doubles title.

Seeded first in the draw, they were dominant throughout the tournament, not dropping a single set on their way to victory. In the final, they beat fourth-seeds Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-3.

 

 

2015: Leander Paes and Martina Hingis, mixed doubles

Leander Paes managed to extend his career long enough to win another mixed doubles title in 2015 at the age of 42, alongside Martina Hingis. 

After tournament favourites Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares were shocked in the first round, the fourth seeds had a real chance to go all the way. The experienced pair were helped by two walkovers in consecutive rounds but then beat second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Chan Yung-jan in the semifinal before overcoming Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey in the final.

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Rahul Iyer

Rahul Iyer Photo

Rahul is a content producer for The Sporting News' India edition.