Divij Sharan and Purav Raja gave the seventh-seeded team of Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram quite a fight, before losing in their second round match on Friday. The South African-American combo needed five sets and three-and-a-half hours to subdue the Indians, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(6), 10-8.
The highed ranked team began the match with confidence and soon took a two-sets-to-love lead before the Indians started to script a comeback. Putting up a resilient fight, the Indians clinched the third and fourth sets and took the match to the deciding fifth set.
Both teams remained on serve in the decider, before the Indians broke the match favourites in the 11th game. Trying to serve out the match, the duo faltered for the first time in the set and gave the break back to their opponents. The set remained on serve thereafter, with Klaasen and Ram seeming to have received a new lease of life. Eventually, in the 18th game, while trying to remain in the match, the Indians faced a decisive break point. Their inability to save the same cost them the win despite their mammoth fightback.
Sharan and Raja saved four of the nine break points they faced on their serve and converted three of the five break points they earned on their opponents’ serve. They went on to finish the match with 164 points to the seventh seeds’ 182.
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