French Open: Rohan Bopanna in semis, knocks out Sania Mirza in mixed doubles
Rohan Bopanna partnered with Gabriela Dabrowski as the Indo-Canadian duo got the better of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles encounter to enter the semi-finals of the French Open.
It was a mixed day for Indians at the French Open as Sania Mirza had to lose at the hands of friend and compatriot Rohan Bopanna in Paris on Monday. Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski defeated second seeded combine of Mirza and Ivan Dodig in straight sets on Court 2 to enter the mixed doubles semifinals.
The Indo-Canadian seventh seeds needed just 52 minutes to move past Mirza and Dodig 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals and inch two steps closer to lifting the prestigious title.
Bopanna and Dabrowski completely dominated the first set to win 31 of the 50 points played.
Although both teams did not approach the net to win any point, the Indo-Canadian pairing earned four breakpoints, converting one of them which proved to be enough to clinch the set and take the lead in the match.
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Mirza and Dodig fought back well in the second set. They even broke their opponents once.
But Bopanna and Dabrowski proved a step better to break Mirza-Dodig twice in three attempts which was good enough to seal the game, set and match in their favour.
Bopanna and Dabrowski served far better too, serving up as many as six aces in comparison to their opponents’ one.
The seventh seeds will next play the winners of the match between Slovenian-British pairing of Andreja Klepac and Dominic Inglot and Czech-French third seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.