French Open 2016 | Leander Paes and Matkowski storm into quarters
Sixteenth seeds Leander Paes and Marcin Matkowski stormed into the quarter-final of the French Open on Sunday after registering an upset victory over fourth seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray. The Indo-Polish pair defeated the fourth seeds 7-6, 7-6 in one hour and 43 minutes to enter the last 8.
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares were regarded as one of the favourites for the title after their title triumph in the Australian Open earlier this year. But, Leander Paes and Marcin Matkowski pulled off a stunning upset and defeated the fourth seeds in a pulsating contest at the Roland Garros.
In the first set, both pairs matched each other shot for shot as they tried to out-gun each other. The sixteenth seeds took the lead first by breaking Soares and Murray in the second game of the day. The fourth seeds did not waste much time and returned the favour to their opponents in the third game to make it 1-2 in the first set. Both pairs held on to their services in remaining games to take the first set to a tie-breaker. Leander and Matkowski showed their prowess in the decider and took the set 7-6 to win the first set.
The second set followed a similar pattern as the first set with both pairs breaking each other once in opening exhanges. However, two double faults from the Australian Open champions cost them dear, as the match once again went into a decider, after both pairs reached 6-6 in the set. It was once again the fourth seeds that emerged victorious in the decider as they registered an upset victory to make it to the next round.
Leander Paes and Marcin Matkowski will now face the fifth seeds Bryan brothers in the quarter-final.