New Delhi: Sixth-seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea stormed into the semi-final of the Madrid Open on Saturday after defeating the unseeded pair of Henri Kontinen and John Peers. The Indo-Romanian pair held their nerve in a tightly contested match in the quarter-final to win 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.

After a closely fought match against Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers in the pre-quarters on Friday, Bopanna and Mergea went through another pulsating encounter to make it to the semis. The reigning champions started the match on the back foot after losing the first set to Henri Kontinen and John Peers. Bopanna and Mergea were also broken once in the first set and found it hard to break the unseeded pair.

Just like their pre-quarter-final game, the Indo-Romanian pair bounced back in the second set and won it with the same scoreline as the first. Although they continued to make mistakes, Kontinen and Peers helped them by committing their share of errors. With both pairs having won one set each, the game went into the decider. Having won the second set, the momentum was with the sixth seeds, and they made it through to the last four by clinching the decider 10-6.

The defending champions will have yet another tough match in the semis when they face fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo. The two pairs have faced each other four times in the past with two wins each for both.