Bopanna, Mergea advance to pre-quarterfinals

Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the rain-hit Wimbledon Championships after a straight set win over Andrej Martin and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo, here today.

The sixth seeded Indo-Romanian pair faced early resistance from the Slovakian-Chile combination before prevailing 7-5 6-2 in the second round contest that lasted one hour and 17 minutes.

Bopanna and Mergea saved eight of the nine breakpoints they faced in the match and broke their rivals four times.

Bopanna could face Leander Paes in the next match if the 43-year-old and his Polish partner Marcin Matkowski get the better of Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
 

Paes and Bopanna will play as a team in India's upcoming Davis Cup tie against Korea and then at Rio Games.