Tennis
Mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna exit Wimbledon
The Indian mixed doubles of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna have exited Wimbledon after falling to a 3-6,6-3,9-11 defeat against the pair of Andreja Klepac and Jean-Roger.
The Indian mixed doubles of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna have exited Wimbledon after falling to a 3-6,6-3,9-11 defeat against the pair of Andreja Klepac and Jean-Roger.
In a rain-marred encounter, the Indians were one set down when the match was suspended yesterday after multiple rain interruptions. When the match started today, Mirza-Bopanna, who looked completely out of sorts yesterday, seemed to have found their rhythm today, as they took the second set 6-3 in no time.
The Slovenian-Dutch pair, on the other hand, was slow to start off but not someone who would give up easily.
The deciding set was a treat to watch, with both the pairs giving it their all but still unable to break the set. While Mirza looked a bit rusty during the entire duration, Bopanna made up for it with some fiery serves and excellent netplay.
Both the pair held a combined 19 games in the third set. The third set stood at 9-10 when the pair of Klepac and Roger finally broke Mirza's serve to take the set 11-9 and move ahead to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
This loss was the end of the road for both Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in this year's Wimbledon and is also the end of Indian representation at the Grand Slam. While Mirza had earlier exited women's doubles in the second round, Bopanna, who had paired up with fellow Indian Divij Sharan, was knocked out in the very first round of men's singles.
Sania Mirza will next be seen in action at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, pairing up with Ankita Raina in the women's doubles. Rohan Bopanna's participation in the Olympics, on the other hand, continues to hang in the balance, with withdrawals from higher-ranked opponents being his only hope.
