Paris: 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..
Bopanna and Dabrowski, seeded seventh, won the title following a stunning turnaround in the final.
Playing only his second Grand Slam 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.
This was only the second time in his career that Bopanna had reached the summit clash of a Grand Slam.
In 2010, he 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.
“It’s very special, it’s something that you always dream about as a kid,” chukled Dabrowski, who became the first Canadian woman to win a Grand Slam.
It was Dabrowski who blinked first as she lost serve on the deciding point with Farah easily smashing past Bopanna on an overhead volley, set up after a rally.
Bopanna, feeling the pressure, hit a forehand long to be be down by two breakpoints in the fifth game but managed to save both with the Canadian showing good skills at the net.
Serving at 2-4, Dabrowski felt the heat and was broken at love when she hit a backhand long. It allowed Groenefeld to serve out the set and she did it with remarkable ease.
Bopanna began the second set with a double fault but managed to hold his serve.
The desperation was palpable and it had a debilitating effect on the seventh seeds as Dabrowski yet again failed to hold serve early in the second set.
However, Bopanna and his Canadian partner got a fresh lease of life when Groenefeld dropped serve at love in the next game.
Farah was also broken in the sixth game, putting Bopanna and the Canadian ahead 4-2.
Dabrowski held her serve for the first time in the match.
The German hit a forehand on to the net on Bopanna’s return to be down by a set point. She saved that but lost the deciding point and it was one set apiece.
In the match tie-breaker, Bopanna and Dabrowski opened up a 3-0 lead but lost five points in a row to trail 3-5.
At 5-5, Farah in his attempt to pick up a half volley, ended up being hit on his right eye on the rebound. After a see-saw battle the Indo-Canadian pair emerged champions. (PTI)
