Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna squandered a one-set lead as they went down fighting to top-ranked American pair of Bob and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles at the French Open on Wednesday.
The Indo-Pak express fought a gruelling two hour and seven minutes battle before the Bryan brothers prevailed 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) at Roland Garros.
The fifth seeded pair did well to take it to the wire before the big-match temperament of the Bryans did the trick.
During tie-breakers, the brothers served well and took advantage of the inexperience of their opponents in pressure situations as the Bopanna-Qureshi pair till date have played in only one Grand Slam finals.
This was the third quarterfinal appearance in the last four Grand Slams for Bopanna and Qureshi. Interestingly, last year also, the Indo-Pak express gave a spirited performance against the same pair before losing in the final of the US Open.
Although, there wasn’t much to choose between the two pairs, but the Bryan brothers enjoyed a better first serve percentage of 81 per cent compared to 69 per cent from the Indo-Pak pair.
Bopanna and Qureshi converted three break points as compared to four by the American pair. The two were brilliant with the serve as they hit 11 aces but the Bryan brothers scored points mostly of the first serves in all three sets. Last year, they lost to Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra of France in straight sets 5-7 3-6 in the second round.
