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| Edited By: ANI |Source: |Updated: May 29, 2022, 09:01 AM IST
The never-say-die spirit came to the fore as Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop saved five match points to knock out Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic, the reigning Wimbledon champions, from the Roland Garros, here on Saturday.
Bopanna’s serve was as venomous as it has been throughout his career and his volleys too were as sharp as ever while his Dutch partner showed exemplary calm under pressure in an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the men’s doubles third round.
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A break of serve early in the third set put them at a disadvantageous position but there was no dearth of spirit or class from Bopanna and Middelkoop, who eventually prevailed 6-7 (5) 7-6(3) 7-6 (10) in two hours and 32 minutes.
Bopanna, thus, matched his best performance at the clay-court major by reaching the quarterfinals, having done it four times in the past. Later, Bopanna combined with Slovenia’s Andreja Klepac to make a winning start to the mixed doubles event with an easy 6-1 6-4 victory over America’s Asia Muhammad and Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool.
Earlier in the day, after annexing a set each, the pair of Mektic and Pavic got a break chance straightaway in the opening game of the decisive third set when Middlekoop fired a forehand long at 30-all.
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They earned their first match point when the rivals fluffed a return at 10-10. Pavic served decent while facing a match point but Middelkoop made an angled return, which the left-hander put out. Middelkoop fell to the ground in disbelief as Bopanna let out a roar.
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