Rohan Bopanna and his Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok beat American-Brazilian pairing of Nicole Melichar and Bruno Soares 6-4 7-6(4) to move to the QF. They will take on the winner of the match between Kyrgios/Anisimova & Mektic/Krejcikova next.
Congratulations on your win today. You’re through to the quarters now. Thoughts on the match today?
We played an extremely aggressive match today. We were against a team which has won a Grand Slam before. Both the players have won Grand Slam titles. So we know we were up against a very, very strong team. We had to play extremely well to beat them. I think we started off serving really well and that helped us take some chances on their return games and really put pressure on them. And I think that was one of the key things to get us to that match.
This is your first time playing with Nadia ever. So how did the partnership come about and did you have any time to prepare?
It was a last minute partnership because Sania got hurt and I had to find a partner. And Nadiia and myself made the cut. So, we were the last team in. And that’s how it actually came about. We didn’t really get enough time to practice.
You’re playing with Arjun Kadhe in Pune. So how did the partnership come about?
I always like to play with Indians in the tournaments at home. Unfortunately, Divij was already set with Sitak. So I thought it’s a good opportunity to play with somebody from Pune. And Arjun has been doing pretty well and I think would be a good opportunity for both of us to play there. I have also lived in Pune for five years, back when I was playing as a junior. So I’m very happy playing with him there.
