Though top Indian doubles players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi continue their Grand Slam ambitions with different partners, the country will have another pair to cheer for as Rohan Bopanna and Rajeev Ram have teamed up for the Australian Open.
Ram, a player of Indian origin who plays under the US flag, also qualified for the singles event and will make his Australian Open debut against Italy's Simone Bolelli on Tuesday.
Paes and Australia's Paul Hanley, seeded fifth, will take on Luis Horna and Stefan Koubek in the first round.
Bopanna-Ram, both ranked in the top-70, open their campaign against Britain's James Auckland and Sam Querrey of the USA, and could run into Paes-Hanley in the second round.
Bhupathi begins his 2008 season with a new partner in Mark Knowles of the Bahamas. The duo have a tricky first round against Chennai Open champion Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and Mischa Zverev of Germany. Bhupathi-Knowled are seeded sixth for the event.
Indian tennis heart-throb Sania Mirza and Alicia Molik of Australia have been seeded sixth and will take on Eleni Daniilidou of Greece and Germany's Jasmin Woehr in the opening round.
Sania begins her singles campaign against Uzbek wildcard Iroda Tulyaganova on Tuesday.
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