Romanian Florin Mergea's game from the baseline and India's Rohan Bopanna deft touches at the net helped the Indo-Romanian pair defeat the top seeds of men's doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan to reach the semi finals of the competition. The score read 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) and 7-6 (7-5).
The ninth seeded pairing of Mergea and Bopanna was always expected to be a tough opponent for the Bryan brothers and the Indo-Romanian pair showed why with some scintillating moves throughout the game.
Right from the start, Mergea and Bopanna mounted pressure on the Bryan brothers and were eager to break their serve. Bob was terrific in his serves and the ninth seed were looking to break Mike's serve.
Despite their efforts, it was the Bryan brothers, who won the first set 7-5. The second set was an important one for both the pairs and Mergea and Bopanna understood the importance of the set and took the matter in their hands as they came up with strong tennis to emerge victorious in the next three sets.
What made this victory possible was the ultimate determination of Mergea and Bopanna, who were never bogged down by the champion team of Bryan brothers, who are said to be one of the best doubles pair in tennis history.
The Bryan brothers have been successful in Wimbledon, winning the title thrice and finishing runners up four times.
The match was tightly contested between the two pairs as some strong rallies were played, which were finished off by smashes, lobs, and some amazing winners. Despite the Bryan brothers being ousted from the competition, the spectators gathered at Court 2 witnessed quality performance from both the pairs and the ninth seed deservedly won the match.
Apart from Bopanna, another Indian, Leander Paes along with his partner Martina Hingis cruised past the pair of Artem Sitak and Anastasia Rodionova in the mixed doubles third round encounter. They have hence progressed to the quarter finals of the competition.
The Indo-Swiss pair have it in them to go all the way and clinch the title as they did earlier in the year, winning the 2015 Australian Open.
But Paes and Hingis' road to the title will not be an easy one with the second seeded pair of Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares defeating Marin Draganjah and Ana Konjuh to reach the last eight of the competition. They won the game 6-3, 6-7 and 6-3.
