'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAKAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAMF/9oACAEBAAAAAIEyEf/EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAb/2gAIAQIQAAAAO//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX/2gAIAQMQAAAAa//EACEQAAIBBQABBQAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwAEBREhEgYTFDEy/9oACAEBAAE/AMb8S7xmSvr2aF5IXMSu114e0/2R4b7wVBnbp4Y3ijlMbKCpaPuqz9tA3qSMtDES/wCtoO9FOzB2AJA3X//EABkRAAIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAAMRof/aAAgBAgEBPwC1giqSN3k//8QAHBEAAgEFAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIEAAMSIUJh/9oACAEDAQE/AItsyHZEOBTRI69Nf//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It was the third day of the French Open, and after a mixed opening two days for India where Sania Mirza qualified for the next round, but Somdev Varman lost out to Ivan Ljubicic, it was back to the two veterans of Indian tennis as Paes and Bhupati teamed up with their respective mixed doubles partners. The pairs, who are in the opposite halves of the draw could very well meet in the finals if they go all the way.
The seventh seeded Indo-Czech pair of Paes and Iveta Benesova brushed aside Frenchwoman Aravine Rezai and her Bulgarian partner Grigor DiMitrov 6-3, 6-1 in only 52 minutes. The first set was over in only 29 minutes while it took them a mere 23 minutes to wrap up the second set. It was like a training match as the pair showed total dominance stunning the Paris crowd. The pair hit around 84 percent of the winners on the first serve. Their successful first serve percentage was an astounding 74 percent compared to 57 percent from their opponents.
But Bhupathi and his Chinese partner Jie Zheng had to fight hard as they beat Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic and Ukrain’s Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (3-7), 6-0, 10-8 in a three-setter. The fifth seeded pair required 79 minutes to move into the second round. After the first set tie-breaker set back, Bhupathi and Zheng got their act together in the second set as they didn’t drop a single game to win 6-0 in only 22 minutes. The super tie-breaker saw well fought battle but the more experienced Bhupathi and his Chinese partner held their nerves to wrap up the proceedings.
It was a good day for Sania Mirza too as she and her partner Elena Vasina moved into the second round with a straight set win over Russian pair of Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova 7-6(2), 6-2 in one hour and 33 minutes. They will next face the winners of the match between German-Swede pair of Kristina Barrois and Johanna Larsson and American duo of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.
Tomorrow is another important day for Indians at the French Open, as Sania faces her toughest tie yet against 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. Bhupati and Paes will also be in action in the Men’s Doubles category as the third seeded pair takes on the all-German pair of Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner in the first round. Somdev will also be in action as he teams up with Yen-Hsun Lu from Taipei to take on Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez in the first round. The fifth seeded pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi will also be in action as they face Seppi and Vagnozi from Italy. Sania has another match tomorrow as she teams up with Rohan Bopanna to take on Chia-Jung Chuang from Taipei and Marcin Matkowski of Poland. Let’s see what Paris holds for Indian tennis.
