Purav Raja kept his date with Wimbledon yet again.
In the second and final qualifying round at Roehampton on Thursday, Purav and his French partner Fabrice Martin beat Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela of Mexico and Divij Sharan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
This is the third time in-a-row that Purav has made the doubles main draw at Wimbledon.
“It is an unbelievable feeling to do it three times. Hopefully, I can start being in main draw of Grand Slams soon, as this is a tough feat to keep achieving,” said the 29-year-old from London.
Last year, Purav had made the main draw with Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner; incidentally, the pair had beaten Somdev Devvarman and Evgeny Donskoy in the first qualifying round.
His first Wimbledon experience was with Divij in 2013. After qualifying, they went on to lose the first round after having taken the first two sets.
Seeded eighth in the qualifiers this year, Martin and Purav sailed past Alessandro Motti and Stephane Robert in the opener, while Divij and Reyes-Varela knocked out fourth seeds Martin Emmrich and Andreas Siljestrom.
In their second-round match, it was Divij and Reyes-Varela who started strongly. “They came out firing,” said Purav. “We had a few chances to get back into it, but some very well-executed set-plays and accurate serving got them through in the first set.”
In the second, Purav and Martin broke Reyes-Varela early and built on that. “I held some close games, and it felt as though the tide was turning,” said Purav.
In the decider, the eighth seeds broke Divij and consolidated. “They were playing catch-up. We had match-points at 5-3, but, credit to them for playing so well as a last minute team,” said Purav, who said he and Martin had been playing the circuit regularly while Divij was playing with a new partner.
“It’s unfortunate that I had to play another Indian and a friend. But, I hope he keeps up that very high level and has another successful year,” he said.
Pointing out that nine Indian players were at the AELTC this time — “eight men and the World No.1 (Sania Mirza in the women’s doubles)” — he quipped: “[I’m] not sure, if I am playing Nationals or Wimbledon!”
The results:
Qualifiers: Second & final round: Fabrice Martin (Fra) & Purav Raja bt Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (Mex) & Divij Sharan 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. First round: Reyes-Varela & Divij bt Martin Emmrich (Ger) & Andreas Siljestrom (Swe) 6-4, 6-4; Martin & Purav bt Alessandro Motti (Ita) & Stephane Robert (Fra) 6-3, 6-2.
