Bopanna, Mergea open Wimbledon campaign with close win

India’s Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea were tested by Marin Draganja and Nikola Mektic before advancing to the second round of the Wimbledon championships, here today.

The sixth seeded Indo-Romanian pair laboured to a 7-5 7-6 (8-6) win over unseeded Croatians. The match 80-minutes match featured only one break that came Bopanna and Mergea’s way in the 11th game of the opening set.

Bopanna and Mergea went up 40-0 on their opponents’ serve and converted third third chance. They served out the set in the next game.

The second too was very tight with both pairs holding serves. Eventually it was settled in the tie-breaker which was also tied 6-6 at one time. From there, Bopanna and Mergea took two straight points to seal their second round berth.