Rohan Bopanna-Matwe Middelkoop create history, reach maiden French Open men's doubles semi-final

India's Rohan Bopanna continued his dream run at the French Open 2022 as he and Dutch partner Matwe Middelkoop beat Lloyd Glasspool and Henri Heliovaara 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a hard-fought men's doubles quarterfinal match in Paris on Tuesday. The 42-year-old India, the oldest in the ATP top 70 and his 38-year-old partner advanced to their maiden semi-final at the French Open. Bopanna and Middelkoop will meet 12th seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Roger on Thursday for a spot in the final. 

This will also mark Bopanna's first-ever semi-final appearance in a Grand Slam doubles event in 7 years. The last time he made it to the top four in any Grand Slam was in 2015 Wimbledon.

The Bopanna and Middelkoop pair came from a set down to win the next two in dramatic fashion. They lost the first set 4-6 but did not allow the British-Finish pair to dictate terms. Bopanna and Middelkoop pushed the quarterfinal into a decider by winning the second set 4-6.

They, however, showed real character and fighting spirit in the deciding third set. The Indian and Dutch pair were 3-5 down in the final set and from there they pushed the match into a super tiebreak. They were trailing 0-3 even in that but won 10 straight points to take the set 7-6 and seal the match.

Bopanna and Middelkoop had saved five match points to knock out Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic, the reigning Wimbledon champions, from the Roland Garros, on Saturday.

Bopanna and his Slovanian partner Andreja Klepac were earlier knocked out in the second round of the mixed doub les event in this year''s French Open. 

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