Rohan Bopanna makes first Grand Slam semifinal since 2015 Wimbledon
Paris(PTI): India's Rohan Bopanna reached his first Grand Slam semifinal in seven years after he and his Dutch partner Matwe Middelkoop rallied to beat Lloyd Glasspool and Henri Heliovaara in the men's doubles quarterfinals of the French Open, here.
The Indo-Dutch pair eked out a 4-6 6-4 7-6 (3) win over the British-Finnish combination in a hard-fought contest on Monday night.
Bopanna last reached the semifinals of a tennis Major at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships when he had teamed up with Romania's Florin Mergea and lost in a gruelling five-setter to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
Bopanna, 42, and Middelkoop, 38, will face 12th seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Roger on Thursday in the last four.
Bopanna and Middelkoop lost the opening set but dished out a superb fightback to win the next two to emerge victorious.
In the decider, the Indo-Dutch pair showed tremendous mental fortitude to fightback from 3-5 down to take the match to a Super Tie-break.
They were again 0-3 behind but won 10 straight points to come up trumps.
Bopanna and Middelkoop had saved five match points to knock out Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic, the reigning Wimbledon champions, from the Roland Garros, on Saturday.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Hemant Karkare killed by RSS-linked cop, not Kasab: Maharashtra LoP Vijay Wadettiwar
BJP writes to ECI for action against Cong leader Wadettiwar for 'defaming' Ujjwal Nikam
Mumbai, May 5: The BJP has written to the Election Commission of India seeking action against Congress and the opposition leader, Vijay Wadettiwar, for allegedly peddling lies and defaming its Mumbai North Central nominee and ex-26/11 prosecution lawyer Ujjwal Nikam.
Wadettiwar, the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly, purportedly called Nikam an "anti-national" and accused him of hiding the information that then Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare wasn't killed by Kasab's bullet during the 26/11 terror attack, but fell to a bullet of a policeman affiliated to RSS.
His allegations were based on the book "Who Killed Karkare" written by retired police officer SM Mushriff.
"As a responsible leader, the opposition leader should desist from making such comments that can help the enemy nation," Nikam said.
Terming Wadettiwar's statements as "false and not based on facts", Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shekar claimed they were aimed at defaming Ujjwal Nikam and inciting emotions.
"We have written to the Election Commission of India seeking action against Wadettiwar who is a star campaigner (of Congress) and also against the Congress party for peddling lies," he added.
Shelar further said (Ajmal) Kasab was sentenced to death for killing innocent people after following a due process of law.
Kasab was the lone terrorist who was captured alive by Mumbai Police during the 26/11 terror attack by Pakistani terrorists in which at least 166 people were killed and several others were injured.
Shelar wondered whether Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray supported the statement made by the Congress leader.
A former special public prosecutor, Nikam had represented the state in high-profile cases like the Mumbai serial bomb blasts and the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
He is making his political foray from Mumbai North Central seat on a BJP ticket and is pitted against city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.
