Monte Carlo Masters: Bopanna-Mergea enter quarter-finals
Sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea rebounded from their four-match losing streak to enter the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday. The Indo-Romanian pair eked out a 7-5, 7-5 win over the unseeded Swedish-Austrian duo of Robert Lindstedt and Alexander Peya in the second round contest that lasted 1 hour 28 minutes.
The first set was a breakfest as there were five breaks of serve. Bopanna and Mergea earned 15 opportunities to make in-roads into their opponents’ serves out of which they succeeded in converting three which tilted the balance in their favour.
Also Read: Novak Djokovic in shock first-match ouster at Monte Carlo Masters
The Indo-Romanian combine continued their good form in the second set too which saw them making use of the only break point chance they got.
They have a tough task up next as they face the Australian Open champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, who saved three match points against Daniel Nestor/Radek Stepanek to squeeze through 6-7(5), 7-6(9), 14-12 into the quarter-finals on Tuesday. Bopanna and Mergea, who won the Madrid Masters last year on clay, will try to avenge their Sydney final loss to the fourth-seeded British-Brazilian pair.