PARIS: The Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the French Open men’s doubles event after losing to French duo of Marc Gicquel and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the opening round on Thursday.
The sixth-seeded Indians were shocked by the unseeded Frenchmen, who came from a set down to snatch the match 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 35 minutes.
Having won the first set comfortably, converting two of the four breakpoints they earned, Bhupathi and Bopanna looked all set to move into the next round of the tournament.
But Gicquel and Roger-Vasselin had other plans. They stretched the Indians in the next set as the French combo held on to every single opportunity, converting the only breakpoint they got to fetch the set 7-5.
High on confidence, the Frenchmen hardly spared an inch to their rivals in the deciding set and sealed it 6-3.
With their shock first-round exit in the French Open, Bhupathi (ranked 13) and Bopanna’s (ranked 12) chances of participation in the Olympics has taken a hit as they need to be in top-10 before the June 11 cut-off mark to make a direct entry into the men’s doubles event of the London Olympics.
A top-10 player has the liberty to choose his partner, irrespective of his ranking, for the competition although the final decision is taken by the national association.
Under the current scenario, Bhupathi and Bopanna, in all likelihood, would not be able to play as a team in the Olympics.
Now, Leander Paes (ranked seventh) is the only Indian in the top-10 and he can choose a partner for the London Games.
And if the All India Tennis Association (AITA) decide to field just one team for the Olympics, either Bhupathi or Bopanna is going to miss out the quadrennial event.
This is the second disappointment for India in the French Open after Sania Mirza lost in the first round of the women doubles event along with her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Andy Murray overcame crippling back pain to battle his way past Jarkko Nieminen into the third round of the French Open on Thursday.
The British fourth seed defeated the Finn 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 but he had looked down and out in the first few games of the match as the lower back strain that he has been struggling with all year struck again.
Grimacing in pain, Murray needed medical treatment three times in quick succession as grim-faced coach Ivan Lendl looked on.
But at a set and 4-2 down, Murray suddenly found a new lease of life and a run of seven games in a row in his favour gave him command.
In what was the first match up on the Philippe Chatrier centre court, Murray looked stiff and concerned from the start as the unseeded Niemenen jumped out into a 3-0 lead.
The Scot then looked in distinct pain in his next service game, barely getting his serve over the net and staying rooted to the spot in the brief exchanges.
He called for medical help to ease the discomfort in his lower back at the turnover and resumed play.
Against the odds he managed to get one of the breaks back but following further treatment he again served at half pace to fall 5-1 down.
It looked a matter of time before Murray called it a day, but instead he battled on and gradually, as the pain eased, he started to find his movement and with that his firepower.
From 2-4 down he won four games in a row, breaking to love at 5-4 to draw level on sets.
The Murray serve was still well short of full power, but he opened the third set with another love game as Nieminen struggled to blunt the Scot’s stunning revival.
Holder Rafael Nadal continued his march towards a record-breaking seventh French Open title with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in the second round on Thursday. The second-seeded Spaniard tormented his 43rd-ranked opponent with his mix of power and accuracy to seal victory in less than two hours on Court Suzanne Lenglen. (Agencies)