The experienced pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza defeated the brand new combination of Ramkaumar Ramanathan and Ankita Raina 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the historic all-Indian mixed doubles first round match at Wimbledon here on Friday.

It was the first time in the Open era that two Indian teams competed against each other at a grand slam tournament.

The contest finally brought a grand slam debut for Ramkumar, who has made 21 attempts to qualify for the singles main draw of a tennis major. While the first set ended quickly in favour of the veterans, Ramkumar and Raina presented a good fight in the second set, when they even led for a brief period with a break of serve.

Bopanna was clearly the best player on the court with his powerful serve and solid ground strokes from the baseline as well as the ability to execute a superior net game.

Sania has also moved into the women’s doubles second round with Bethanie Mattek-Sands while Ankita and her American partner Lauren Davis lost 6-3, 6-2 to the American pair of Asia Muhammad and Jessica Pegula on Thursday.