Tennis
French Open 2022: Rohan Bopanna/Matwe Middelkoop upset Olympic champions to enter quarters
Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop stormed into the French Open Men's Doubles quarter-finals after a rousing three-set thriller against second seeds Mektić and Pavić.
Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop (Source: Getty)
Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and Dutch partner, Matwe Middelkoop produced some top-class tennis to outclass the reigning Olympic champions and second-seeds, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić and entered the quarter-finals of the French Open 2022 in men's doubles.
Playing an absolute thriller against the former World No. 1 Croatian pair of Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić, Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop displayed sheer nerves to eke past their opponents and win the match, 6-7(5), 7-6(3,) 7-6(10).
With this victory, Rohan Bopanna has made it to his fifth quarter-final at Roland Garros while it is the first time for Middelkoop, who also stepped up to the occasion today and showed rave skills with the racquet.
What's interesting about the match is that for the first two sets, no serves were broken on either side, with all pairs remaining solid on their ground, making the match an even more thrilling spectacle to watch.
At 42, to see Rohan Bopanna still being so fit and good with his movement on the court and mixing up his shots well is indeed a sight for the sore eyes, as he and Middelkoop found their ways to remain at par, if not better, than the Olympic champions. In fact, Bopanna and Middelkoop also saved five match points and found it in them to keep their cool and turn the match in their favour and cause this major upset.
To have pulled off a great upset like this, especially with the match running into a tense super tie-break, will not only instil the sixteenth-seeded Indo-Dutch pair with renewed confidence but also reignite their hunger for the French Open title, all the more now. Bopanna, who has been a former champion at Roland Garros in the Mixed Doubles in 2017, has also been enjoying a good form of late and will hope to continue this spell.
Rohan Bopanna is also set to open his Mixed Doubles campaign later today with Andreja Klepač, where they are seeded fifth and they will take on Édouard Roger-Vasselin and Alizé Cornet.
