Monte-Carlo Masters| Rohan Bopanna through to the quarter-finals in men’s doubles
The Indo-French pair of Rohan Bopanna and E. Roger-Vasselin earned a hard-fought win in their round of 16 match against the seventh-seeded pair of B. Soares and J. Murray in a 3-set match. The Bopanna-Vasselin duo won 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
After dominating in their round of 32, Rohan Bopanna and E. Roger-Vasselin started slowly in the pre-quarterfinal match against Soares and Murray, who were seeded seventh. The latter pair served first and won without losing a point before the Indo-French pair came back fast to level the score.
It was only in the sixth game of the first set that the opportunity to break came as Soares and Murray put the Indo-French pair under pressure. The Brazil-England pair broke and got a 4-2 lead, which they consolidated to win the first set 6-3. The second set once again began on even terms as both the teams held their serve, giving nothing away. But Bopanna and Vasselin broke in the 10th game of the second set to draw level. The tie-breaker third set began with Soares and Murray dominating the first five points.
However, Bopanna and Vasselin came back well to win the next three points before the former pair consolidated their lead as they went ahead 8-3. But the Indo-French pair came storming back as they took the third set 11-9 and earned a hard-fought victory. Bopanna and Vasselin face the Colombian pair of J Cabal and R Farah in the quarterfinals.Â
