ATP Rotterdam: Rohan Bopanna advances to quarters in men's doubles

Indian doubles tennis star Rohan Bopanna advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Rotterdam event after he and his partner Denis Shapovalov of Canada defeated John Peers and Michael Venus 7-6, 6-7, 10-8 in a keenly contested battle. The Indo-Canadian pair were on top of their game as they sent down 12 aces in the match, but faltered in their first serve, as their Australian rivals surged ahead with the first serve of 69%.

However, Bopanna and Shapovalov pulled back with a superior second serve, and ended up winning 59 service points, in comparison to the 55 that Peers and Venus won. Overall, the latter won 26 receiving points and a total of 81 points in the three-setter. Bopanna and his partner had won 34 receiving points and 93 throughout the game.

They will now take on Jean Julien Rojer of Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania in the quarterfinal that will be held on February 13, 2020.

Bopanna, who is currently ranked 41 in the doubles ATP ranking will be hoping to accumulate important points as he looks to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He had crashed out of the recent Tata Maharashtra Open in Pune earlier this month in the first round to further fall in the ATP table.

Thirty-two teams are currently eligible to play in the men's doubles at Tokyo, with players in the top ten earning a direct spot for the doubles event. The remaining teams are picked according to the combined rankings of the two players. Bopanna has, time and again, stated that he would want to play the Summer Games with Divij Sharan, who has entered the quarter-finals of the men's doubles event in the New York Open.

Sharan is currently ranked 55 in the ATP rankings, which will give Bopanna and Sharan a combined ranking of (41+56) 97. As that might not be enough to earn a berth in the Olympics, the two players are playing separately in the lead up to the Games, so they can push their respective rankings into the top 25, which will give them a better chance to qualify.