US Open: Bopanna-Shapovalov reach men’s doubles quarter-final

Washington, Sep 6 (IANS) Veteran Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Denis Shapovalov reached the quarter-finals of the US Open on Saturday. Bopanna and Shapovalov recorded a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over German duo Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies in a match that lasted an hour and 47 minutes.

Unforced errors were their undoing as the Indo-Canadian pair was outplayed by the Germans in the first set. Both teams had almost the same first-serve percentage and hit the same number of winners but Bopanna-Shapovalov managed just over half of the points on their first serve and a third of their return points, converting one of their two break points.

They sharpened up their act in the second set however. While the pair made unforced errors but won the points that mattered. They saved the one break point they faced to win the set.

Bopanna and Shapovalov then carried the momentum into the third set. They converted a break point and saved one as they went through to the quarters where they will face Dutch-Romanian duo of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, who ousted defending champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia.

“It’s all about finishing strong. Good effort by my partner after his long day yesterday to comeback and play hard. Good win at the office for us today @denis_shapo @usopen,” Bopanna later tweeted.

–IANS

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