Paris: Indian tennis veteran Rohan Bopanna and his Dutch partner Matwe Middelkoop lost in the men’s doubles semifinals of the French Open, here on Thursday.
Bopanna and Middelkoop, seeded 16th, were defeated 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8-10) by 12th seeds Jean-Julien Roger of the Netherlands and Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador in two hours and seven minutes at the Roland Garros Stadium.
The Indian had the chance of making his first appearance in a men’s doubles final at a Grand Slam since the US Open in 2010.
In the semifinals, Bopanna and Middelkoop were able to break the opponents early into the match and managed to hold on to their serve for the remainder of the opening set despite a stiff challenge from Roger and Arevalo.
Both teams held serve in the second set, until Bopanna and Middelkoop were broken in the penultimate game, eventually letting the opponents equalise. The 42-year Bopanna, however, was impressive with his service returns.
The third set was an equally contested affair with both sides winning all their service games and taking the match to the super tiebreak. The Indo-Dutch pair had won the super tiebreak in their last two matches but could not hold through this time. Bopanna and Middelkoop saved two match points but eventually went down fighting.
The loss also brought an end to India’s campaign at Roland Garros 2022.
Sania Mirza and Lucie Hradecka had lost in the third round of the women’s doubles against Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff on Tuesday. In the mixed doubles, Rohan Bopanna partnered with Andreja Klepac while Sania Mirza teamed up with Ivan Dodig. Both teams’ campaigns ended in the second round.
Ramkumar Ramanathan was the third Indian in the main draw of the French Open. While his men’s doubles run ended in the second round, he was knocked out of the mixed doubles in the opener.
None of the singles players from India could move past the qualification rounds.