New York, Sep 3 (IANS): Divij Sharan and his Serbian men's doubles partner Nikola Cacic crashed out in the first round of the 2020 US Open. The Indo-Serbian pair lost 4-6, 6-3, 3-6 to 8th seeds Nikola Mektic and Wesley Koolhof.

Inconsistency in serves played a big role in Sharan and Cacic not being able to cash in on their comeback in the second set on Wednesday. The pair made a poor start to the match but made up for it by forcing the game into a decider with a dominant 6-3 win in the second set.

Sharan, who was on the list of athletes recommended for the Arjuna Award this year, had earlier partnered Robin Haase at the Prague Challenger. It was his first tournament since the Covid-19 induced lockdown on the tennis calendar.

India's campaign at Flushing Meadows continues with Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal playing their respective matches on Thursday. Bopanna is partnering Canadian Dennis Shapovalov and will be facing American duo Noah Rubin and Ernesto Escobedo.

Nagal will, meanwhile, face second seed Dominic Thiem at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in his first ever second round match. He became the first Indian since Somdev Devvarman in 2013 to advance to the second round of a Grand Slam tournament after he beat USA's Bradley Klahn in 4 sets earlier.