Javia wins first-round French Open Boys’ doubles match

Ahmedabad: Dev Javia kept the Indian flag flying at Roland Garros when he and his Chinese partner Li Hanwen won a hard-fought first-round French Open Boys' doubles match against Egor Agafonov of Russia and Peter Fajta of Hungary at Court No. 5 on Tuesday evening.

The Indo-China pair eventually prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 10-8. With the match starting slightly late because of rain and the pair playing for the first time together, the two lacked coordination in the beginning and there were also some errors of judgement on Li’s part as they lost the first set 2-6.

However, the duo regrouped well in the second set, especially the 18-year-old Ahmedabad lad who came out all guns blazing. Li started imparting more power on the serve and they won the second set 6-4 and eventually the match.

Dev’s coach Shrimal Bhatt, who is accompanying him in Paris, was ecstatic after the duo’s victory.

“A win at a Grand Slam is always very exciting. The weather was cold and damp and thus the courts were slow. The temperature was around 12 to 14 C. It rained a lot on Monday evening and also in the morning today,’’ said a beaming Shrimal.