Paris: India's Rohan Bopanna and his Dutch partner Matwé Middelkoop saved two match points but their dream run at the French Open ended with a semifinal defeat at the hands of Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer, here on Thursday.
The 16th seeds, Bopanna and Middelkoop, who have played some exhilarating tennis throughout, lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8-10) to the 12th seeded pair from El Salvador and the Netherlands in the men's doubles match that lasted two hours and seven minutes.
No Indian has played in a Grand Slam men's doubles final since Leander Paes' 2013 US Open triumph and Bopanna was bidding to become the first Indian in nine years to achieve the feat.
The first and last time Bopanna featured in a Grand Slam final was in 2010 with Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Quereshi, losing the title clash to legendary Bryan brothers -- Bob and Mike.
Rojer's first serve accuracy was a huge factor in the outcome of the match.
While serving for the opening set, Middelkoop was down by two break chances but saved both to make it deuce.
The Dutch player then fired an ace to get to advantage point and Bopanna sealed the set with a backhand volley winner.
Bopanna sent forehand on net at 30-all to face a break point but served big to save that. The Indian's second serve was attacked again in the sixth game that resulted in him facing another break chance but saved that too.
With this defeat, India's challenge ended at the clay court major.
Meanwhile, Marin Cilic is 33, nearly eight seasons past his one Grand Slam title at the 2014 U.S. Open and, more than four full years removed from his most recent trip to the semifinals of a major tournament.
If he keeps serving like this, there's no reason to think about quitting tennis anytime soon.
Cilic delivered 33 aces to get to the final four at the French Open for the first time, edging No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-2) on Wednesday in a 4-hour, 10-minute test of strength and will.
Andrey played incredibly well. One had to go down, the 20th-seeded Cilic said, "and today was my day.
The Croatian is the fifth active man to complete a full set of at least one semifinal run at all four Slam events, joining Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, each of whom has been ranked No. 1 and won multiple majors.
Cilic was the runner-up to Federer at Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018; the latter had been Cilic's most recent trip to a Slam semifinal. On Friday, Cilic will take on No. 8 Casper Ruud for a spot in the final. The other men's semifinal is 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who eliminated Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, against No. 3 Alexander Zverev.