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The Indo-Romanian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea caused a massive upset by taking out No. 1 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5) in 2 hours and 34 minutes.
The Bryan brothers won 86% points on first serve and converted one of two break point opportunities late in the opening set to lead by a set to love. But Bopanna and Mergea improved their own first serve percentage to 70% and broke the Bryan brothers’ serve twice to level scores at one set apiece. Both teams won 29 points in the second set.
The No. 9 seeds edged out the Bryan brothers in a tight third set tie-break that saw multiple mini-breaks. The Indo-Romanian pair, who won the title in Stuttgart before coming to Wimbledon, then held their calm in the fourth set.
Bopanna and Mergea had two match points at 6-4, but the Romanian double faulted on his first attempt. That didn’t cause too much heartache, however, as he proceeded to hit an ace on the second time of asking.
With this win, Bopanna and Mergea have progressed through to the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time together. This is Bopanna’s second trip to the Wimbledon last four, having achieved the feat in 2013 too, but for Mergea it’s the very first semifinal appearance.
