Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden marched into the men’s doubles quarter-finals in the ongoing French Open after securing a hard-fought victory against the pair of N Sriram Balaji and MA Reyes-Varela Martinez on Monday.
The second-seeded Indo-Australian pair bounced back from a set down and kept their cool to edge past Balaji and Martinez, defeating them 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6 (10-8) in their third round clash.
Bopanna is yet to finalise his partner for the upcoming Paris Olympics but the way Balaji performed on the other side of the net must have impressed the veteran who is only the third Indian to win a Grand Slam.
Given he’s a top-10 player, Bopanna will get to choose his partner for the Games.
After staying on serve for first eight games, there was an opportunity for the second seeds to put pressure on the rivals when Balaji could not return Ebden’s backhand volley, which made it 30-all.
However Balaji managed to hold serve, staying ahead 5-4 in the opening set. Bopanna also held his serve comfortably.
Another opportunity came for the second seeds when Reyes-Varela came out to serve and was down 15-40. The Indo-Mexican pair though saved both chances.
Balaji and Reyes-Varela had a great chance to close the set in their favour when Ebden hit a forehand wide at 30-all but Balaji returned wide on the break chance.
Eventually, a tie-break was required to decide the opening set. Balaji and Reyes-Varela raced to a 4-1 lead after Bopanna served a double fault at 1-1. The Mexican hit a stunning backhand angled winner and Bopanna made an unforced error.
From there, it was a set to be taken by the unseeded pair. Reyes-Varlea hit a volley winner to earn four set points. Balaji converted the first with a widish unreturnable serve.
An early break in the second set gave Bopanna and Ebden to force a third set and they did not lose the opportunity.
The third set was a tight affair with both pairs not giving an inch to each other. As the set progressed the games were held at love.
Ebden came out to serve under pressure at 5-6 but delivered.
The Super Tie-breaker was equally engrossing with the two pairs locked 6-6 at one stage. However, Balaji served a double fault at 7-8 to hand the opponents two match points. They saved the first when Ebden’s overhead smash went into net but the Australian found a winner on the next to close the game.
With PTI inputs
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