Rohan Bopanna reaches US Open doubles quarter-finals after upset win
Unseeded Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov conceded the first set to the tournament’s sixth seeds but came roaring back to make the US Open 2020 men’s doubles quarters.
India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Denis Shapovalov came from behind to beat Andreas Mies and Kevin Krawietz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in their US Open 2020 second round men’s doubles clash in New York on Saturday.
The upset victory over the sixth-seeded all-German team sent the Indo-Canadian duo into the quarter-finals, where they will meet Netherlands’ Jean-Julien Rojer and Romania’s Horia Tecau. This is Bopanna’s first doubles Grand Slam quarter-final since the 2018 French Open.
Unseeded Bopanna and Shapovalov came out firing all cylinders and broke the German team’s serve as early as in the second game of the first set to take a 2-0 lead.
Mies and Krawietz, however, hit back immediately, breaking Bopanna’s serve in the third game before using their serve and volley game to the fullest in the fourth to level it up at two a-piece.
The two sides continued to hold their serves until the Germans stepped up to break Shapovalov’s serve in the ninth game.
Mies served for the set and the sixth seeds made no mistakes. The Germans seized the initiative, winning the first set 6-4.
Gritty comeback in second set
A set down, Bopanna and Shapovalov played some aggressive tennis to start the second set but the Germans held strong with their serves.
The Indo-Canadian duo kept chipping at it and almost broke Mies-Kraweitz in the eighth. Despite some splendid returns and cheeky shots at the net by Bopanna, the Germans managed to save a break point and held on.
The breakthrough, however, came in the crucial 10th game. With the set at 5-4, Bopanna stepped up yet again with a fine overhead and a couple of terrific returns from the baseline to break the German team’s serve and take the match into the third set.
Rohan Bopanna steps up in crunch decider
The first seven games of the decider were tight contests with neither team giving an inch. It was Bopanna and Shapovalov who finally gained the upper hand, breaking the Germans in the eighth game.
Shapovalov, who won the eighth game with a strong forehand return down the sideline, chipped in with some big serves in the ninth game before Bopanna wrapped up the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The road to the semi-finals, however, is set to be a tough one against Rojer and Tecau, who upset top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah to claim their spot in the last-eight.
Rojer is a two-time Olympian while Tecau won the silver medal at the Rio 2016 men’s doubles tennis event
Bopanna and Shapovalov had earlier beat the all-US team of Noah Rubin and Ernesto Escobedo in a rain-interrupted first-round match to progress to the second round.