Bopanna-Mergea enter Stuttgart Open quarters

Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea won their men's doubles first round to advance to the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open here on Wednesday.

The fourth seeds beat Croatian-German pairing of Marin Cilic and Frank Moser 6-3, 7-6(10) in an hour and 11 minutes at the Tennis Club Weissenhof.

The first set saw Bopanna-Mergea dominate their opponents, winning 14 out of 17 first service points, including three aces, which helped them clinch the first set with ease on the grass court.

The second set saw the contest go down to the wire as the fourth seeds delivered seven aces in comparison to Cilic-Moser's four.

The Indo-Romanian combine won 28 out of 31 first service points but Cilic-Moser with a couple of second service points helped the game enter the tie-break. The tie-break saw a close battle where Bopanna-Mergea wasted several matchpoint opportunities but eventually came out on top, winning 12-10.

Bopanna-Mergea will now have their eyes on the semis spot when they next face the winners of the match between Andreas Seppi-Viktor Troicki and Mate Pavic-Michael Venus.