Wimbledon 2017 | Rohan Bopanna, Purav Raja-Divij Sharan bow out while Nadal, Murray advance to the round of 16

07/08/2017

Rohan Bopanna and Roger Vasselin's men's doubles campaign came to an end after the duo was beaten by Ken and Neal Skupski in the second round while Divij Sharan and Purav Raja, too bowed out of the category. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray progressed to the round of 16.

Rohan Bopanna and Roger Vasselin lost their second round men's doubles match 6-7(6) 3-6 7-6(5) 3-6 to the British pair of Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski in a two hours 28 minutes long battle. The duo came into the match having defeated Dustin Brown and Mischa Zverev in the first round and lost the first set of the game in a tiebreaker. The Indo-French pair went on to lose the second set 3-6, but clawed their way back into the game with a win in the third. However, the British pair ended the game by winning the fourth set with relative ease.

The Wimbledon adventure of the all-Indian pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan came to an end as well, as they succumbed to a closely-fought, 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6(6) 8-10, defeat against the seventh seed pair of Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in a five-set battle. The Indian pair had an edge over their opponents with a chance to seal the match at 6-5 in the deciding set of the match. However, Raja and Sharan failed to convert the match point and eventually ended up losing the three hours and thirty minutes long contest.

Leander Paes crashed out in the first round of the mixed doubles as well suffering a defeat alongside Chinese partner Yifan Zu 7-5, 3-6, 2-6 at the hands of the French-Romanian pair of Fabrice Martin and Raluca Olaru. Divij Sharan and Purav Raja, like their Indian compatriot, lost their respective matches in mixed doubles to bow out of the tournament.

The French Open winning duo of Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski seeded tenth in the event, are still to compete in the second round of mixed doubles after getting a bye in their first.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal beat Russia's Karen Khachanov in straight sets of 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3) on Centre Court to move into the last 16 of the Grand Slam event for the first time since 2014. The Spaniard won the first set in 30 minutes with ease before Khachanov got a service hold in the first game of the second set. The Russian finally found his rhythm in the third set forcing it into a tiebreaker and almost winning it with a set point in the 12th game but a lapse of concentration made him commit three unforced errors that resulted in the 21-year old ending up on the losing side.

World No. 1 Andy Murray showed impressive grit by winning 5 consecutive games to defeat Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the fourth set to advance to the round of 16. The top seed has reached this stage of the tournament for the 10th time in a row.

On the other hand, ninth seed Kei Nishikori was knocked out of the tournament by Roberto Bautista Agut who won the third round match 6-4, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 to enter the fourth round for the seventh time in his career.

In women's singles, Venus Williams stormed into the fourth round with a straight-sets win of 7-6(3), 6-4 over Japan's Naomi Osaka in an hour and 25 minutes while second seed Simona Halep overcame China's Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-6(7) to continue her bid to displace Angelique Kerber as the top-ranked women's player. The Romanian can become number one if she reaches the semi-final of the Grand Slam event.

Meanwhile, Victoria Azarenka came from behind to beat Heather Watson 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to enter the last 16 of the grass-court event.