Bopanna wins maiden Grand Slam title at French Open

Paris, June 8:
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, here today.
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.
“We relaxed a little more in the second set, and we started playing our game. I think we were trying to do too much as a team,” Bopanna said.
“Just because it was a final, we were trying to go for too much maybe on the returns or even on the serve, for me. After that first set we just stuck to what we do best. We started pushing each other, motivating each other. I think that’s what made the difference. Once the nerves calmed down, we played better tennis,” the Indian explained further.
Bopanna and Dabrowski were down by two match points but Farah and Groenefeld muffled the chances.
Bopanna and the Canadian then had two match points and they sealed the championship when the German double-faulted while serving at 10-11.
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’s kind of funny, because you never know where the journey is going to take you: singles, doubles, now mixed doubles. I couldn’t be more happy. It feels amazing.” (PTI)

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