Mirza, Paes and Bopanna score second round wins, continue quest to win French Open title
Despite setbacks in the Mixed doubles, Indian players managed to maintain a perfect record in ther main doubles events with Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna managing to score wins in their second round matches.
Leander Paes and Daniel Nestor played the second match on court 3. Their second round match was the unseeded pair of Julian Knowle and Andre Begemann. The tenth seeded Indo-Canadian pair managed a straight sets 7-6(3) 6-2 win. Their opponents in the round of 16 will be the sixth seeded Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, the current Australian open Champions. If they were to go deep into the draw, their toughest hurdle could be this pair. The chances of them doing well look bleak as they have been winless since they joined forces at the beginning of the clay court swing. They have played all the major tournaments, but have failed to make an impact. Though, with experience in their side, they could make a few inroads.
The next match on court was that of the top seeds in the women’s draw- Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis. The top seeded duo had a rather easy outing as they defeated wild cards Stephanie Foretz and Amandine Hesse 6-3 6-4. They will next face the newly formed tandem of Roberta Vinci and Karin Knapp. Among the teams in their section, the tenth seeded pair of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Alla Kudryavtseva were beaten by Belinda Bencic and Katerina Siniakova, while Australian Open Champions Bathanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova will play their second round on Saturday against Varvara Lepchenko and Zheng Saisai. With the ascent of Mirza to the top of the rankings and their success as a team, they are one of the favourites to clinch the title.
Rohan Bopanna and Florin Merfea were the last to tale to court. They faced the all left hander pair of Donald Young and Austin Krajicekwho won the opening set 3-6. The Madrid Open Champions overcame the deficit and drew level by winning the second set 6-3. They won the theird set 7-5 to set up s round of 16 clash with the fifth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. Mergea is a semifinalist from last year, while Bopanna was a second round casualty. Entering the event with a Masters 1000 title and a runners-up finish from a earlier tournament might not make them the favourites in the uncertain and unpredictable Men’s doubles draw, but it surely gives them confidence going into the event and furthers their will to perform better.