French Open 2016 | Bopanna-Mergea enter quarters

ByArun S Kaimal, SportsCafe Editor

05/29/2016

Sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea advanced to the quarter-final of the 2016 French Open on Sunday after defeating Brian Baker and Marcus Daniell. The Indo-Romanian pair defeated the unseeded pair 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 in one hour and 48 minutes to confirm their place in the last eight.

After defeating French pairing of Barrere-Halys in straightforward sets in the second round, sixth seeds Bopanna and Mergea took on Brian Baker and Marcus Daniell in the pre-quarters. The Indo-Romanian duo looked in prime form in the first set, and eased past the unseeded duo 6-2 by breaking them twice. Bopanna and Mergea also won 81% of the first serves, while Baker and Daniell only managed 53% of them.

However, Baker and Daniell turned the tables in the second set, and matched the sixth seeds point for point to take the set to a tie-break. The unseeded pair won it 7-4 and took the set 7-6. In the third and final set, Bopanna and Mergea bounced back and dominated the set from the start. As was in the case in the first set, the Indo-Romanian pair broke Baker and Daniell twice in the set and won it 6-1 to enter the last-eight stage.

Bopanna and Mergea will next face the winner of the match between third seeds Ivan Dodig-Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa-Chris Guccione.