The 42-year-old Rohan Bopanna reached his first-ever Roland Garros semi-final in men’s doubles. Bopanna and his Dutch partner Matwe Middelkoop pulled off a heist against the pairing of Llyod Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara. They won the Quarterfinal 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) after being down in super tie-breaker. Bopanna and partner will take on Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) / Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador) in the semi-final.
The 16th seeds Bopanna and Middelkoop brought out all their experience as they went from 0-3 down in the Super tie-breaker to win 10 points on the trot and seal a berth in the semi-final. Bopanna earlier had won the mixed doubles title at French Open along with Gabriela Dabrowski in 2017.
With Middelkoop hitting some stunning forehand winners and Bopanna finding winners with incredible calmness, the veteran doubles pairing got to their first-ever Grand Slam semi.
May skip Wimbledon
Bopanna said that he will skip Wimbledon this year, as the grass-court Grand Slam appears set to play to the ‘no points’ tune. The Championships, starting June 27, banned Russian and Belarussian players from playing their event. The ATP & WTA Tours then hit back by stripping the major off ranking points. The 42-year-old, India No. 1 in the men’s doubles, has struggled with knee issues, will reconsider his decision should the tournament go through with points.
“It makes no sense for me at this age and stage of my career to be playing Wimbledon without points,” Bopanna said. “It’s best-of-five, on grass, where you are getting down low for the ball… Points maybe short, but you’re serving and volleying, moving forward, putting a lot of load on the knees. ”
