Herbert/Mahut Battle Through At Roland Garros
Sixth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut fought back from a set down to overcome Robin Haase and Jan-Lennard Struff 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) and advance to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
The French tandem did not win one point on their second serve (0/12) in the opener but improved at the start of the set, breaking early as they levelled up the match.
The 2018 champions (d. Marach and Pavic) then won 84 per cent (16/19) of their first-serve points in the final set to edge out the unseeded pair. They are now 18-7 on the season and will face Nikola Cacic and Tomisav Brkic next.
There was no such success for 14th seeds Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen though, with the Belgian team losing to Pablo Andujar and Pedro Martinez 6-4, 7-6(6). The Spaniards came back from 3-0 down in the second set to clinch the victory in one hour and 45 minutes.
Their reward is a quarter-final clash with experienced duo Rohan Bopanna and Franco Skugor. The Indian-Croatian team did not have to take to court on Sunday in Paris as they received a walkover against Marcelo Avrevalo and Matwe Middelkoop.
Elsewhere, Hugo Nys and Tim Puetz’s strong run at Roland Garros continued as they cruised past Benoit Paire and Romain Arneodo 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last eight. They broke their opponents in the final game of both sets and won 76 per cent of their first-serve points (31/41). The duo, who hit three aces, will now play Alexander Bublik and Andrey Golubev.