[Doubles Quarterfinals]
○ Takenobu Yunoki (JPN) / Rohan Bopanna (IND)  7-6(5), 7-6(4)  ● Máximo González (ARG) / Andrés Molteni (ARG)

■Takeru Yuzuki and Rohan Bopanna overcame the formidable Argentine team of Andrés Molteni, a 19-time tour winner and world No. 19, and Máximo González, a 22nd-ranked player with 18 titles. Both sets went to tiebreaks, with every game held on serve, making for a tightly contested match.
It was Yuzuki’s powerful serve—praised by his partner Bopanna as “his biggest weapon”—that proved decisive. Yuzuki struck 9 aces in the match, including three in a single game in the second set.

■Three elite doubles players stood on the court led by Bopanna, the 45-year-old former world No. 1 with 26 career titles including Grand Slams and the seasoned Argentine duo. Standing next to them 27-year-old Yuzuki, ranked No. 112, who had only just claimed his first tour-level win in the opening round is a new face,
Under such circumstance, “The key was staying composed and not getting timid,” he said. Yuzuki lived up to that mindset, holding firm under pressure and not dropping a single point on serve in either tiebreak.

■“In the big moments of the tiebreak, or on those final two serves that sealed the win in the second set—I might’ve gotten nervous in the past,” Yuzuki reflected. “But this time, I was able to stay aggressive.” A confident Yuzuki showed he had overcome his former self.

(Japan Tennis Assocation)