India's Rohan Bopanna earned himself an opportunity to become only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam trophy by reaching the French Open mixed doubles final with partner Gabriela Dabrowski, in Paris, on Wednesday.
Bopanna and his Canadian partner, seeded seventh, shocked third seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals.
This is only the second time in his career that Bopanna has reached the summit clash of a Grand Slam. In 2010, he had made the final of US Open men's doubles with Pakistani parter Aisam-ul-haq-Qureshi, where they lost to the legendary Bryan brothers -- Bob and Mike.
In the title clash, they will take on Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Colombia's Robert Farah, who knocked out Casey Dellacqua and Rajeev Ram 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-5 in other semis.
Only three Indians have so far managed to lay hands on a Grand Slam trophy -- Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza.
Bopanna is the lone surviving Indian player at Roland Garros after the exits of Paes and Sania.
Image: Rohan Bopanna
Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
