French Open 2017: Rohan Bopanna captures first Grand Slam title, wins mixed doubles crown with Gabriela Dabrowski

Bopanna thus became only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam title. The legendary Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza have clinched Grand Slam titles.

Courtesy: Twitter (ANI)

New Delhi: Doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna captured his first Grand Slam title on Thursday when he teamed up with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski to beat Robert Farah and Anna-Lena Gronefeld in the mixed doubles final of French Open 2017.

The seventh-seeded Indo-Canadian pair came from behind to beat Gronefeld (Germany) and Farah (Colombia) in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 at Roland Garros. The final match lasted one hour 10 minutes.

In the third set decider, the Indo-Canadian pair dug deep, but it was a double fault on match point by Gronefeld which gave the eventual winners the coveted title.

Here's the winning moment.

Champs! @GabyDabrowski/@rohanbopanna defeat Groenefeld/Farah 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 for the mixed doubles title. #RG17 pic.twitter.com/pVhkp3Fh7W — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2017

Bopanna thus became only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam title.

Interestingly, Dabrowski is the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam tittle.

The legendary Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza are the only Indians to have clinched Grand Slam titles.

Bopanna entered the final of a Grand Slam tournament after a gap of seven years.

He qualified for the Grand Slam final of his career in 2010 when he and Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi entered the title clash of the US open.

The Indo-Pakistan combination had registered several superb performances in that tournament, including a straight sets win over second seeds Daniel Nestor and Zimonjic in the third round.

However, the 16th seeds ran into the legendary duo of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the final.

Bopanna and Qureshi put up a brave fight before going down 6-7, 6-7 to the top seeded Bryan brothers who were also World No.1 at that time.