Tennis: Bopanna clinches maiden Grand Slam crown after winning mixed doubles title at French Open
The Indian saved two match points to eke out a 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 win over Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Colombia’s Robert Farah.
Rohan Bopanna lifted his maiden Grand Slam title by winning the French Open mixed doubles trophy with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski, becoming only the fourth Indian ever to clinch a major on Thursday, PTI reported. Bopanna and Dabrowski, seeded seventh, won the title following a remarkable turnaround in the final.
Bopanna and Dabrowski saved two match points to eke out a memorable 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 win over Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Colombia’s Robert Farah. Bopanna and Dabrowski were down by two points but Farah and Groenefeld muffed the chances. The Indo-Canadian pair then got themselves two match points and they sealed the championship when the German double-faulted while serving at 10-11.
Bopanna was playing only his second Grand Slam final. In 2010, Bopanna had made the final of US Open with Pakistani parter Aisam-ul-haq-Qureshi and lost to the legendary Bryan brothers – Bob and Mike.
Only Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza have won Grand Slam trophies for India.