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 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.