India's Rohan Bopanna and his men's doubles partner Matthew Ebden from Australia overcame a close call to secure a victory over the Argentine team of Guillermo Duran and Tomas Etcheverry, advancing to the second round of Wimbledon.
In a match that lasted two hours and 12 minutes, the sixth-seeded Indo-Australian pair defeated their spirited opponents 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (10-8).
Bopanna, aged 43, and Ebden, aged 35, who had previously clinched two doubles titles on the ATP Tour earlier this year, will now face the unseeded British duo of Jacob Fearnley and Johannus Monday on Sunday.
Earlier this year, Bopanna and Ebden emerged victorious at the Qatar Open in February. In March, Bopanna achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the oldest player to win an ATP Masters Series tournament (ATP1000) at Indian Wells in the United States, surpassing the previous record set by Canada's Daniel Nestor, who won the Cincinnati Masters title at the age of 42 in 2015.
In the mixed doubles category, Bopanna will team up with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski on Saturday. The sixth-seeded pair, who previously claimed the French Open crown in 2017, will commence their campaign against the unseeded duo of Croatia's Ivan Dodig and Latisha Chan from Chinese Taipei.
More Indian players will also be in action on Saturday.
Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni are set to face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from Spain and Adrian Mannarino from France, while Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N Sriram Balaji will take on second seeds Austin Krajicek from the USA and Ivan Dodig in the opening round.
(With agency inputs)
