Wimbledon 2018: Indo-French duo Purav Raja and Fabrice Martin make early exit after gruelling five-set battle

London: India’s Purav Raja and France’s Fabrice Martin lost an excruciating five-set battle to Mirza Basic and Dusan Lajovic to make an early exit from the Wimbledon championships on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_4667551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Purav Raja. Image Courtesy: Twitter @puravraja[/caption] The Indo-French pair was staring at the barrel as they trailed by two sets but put the match on an even keel before eventually tumbling 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 9-11 in three hours and 37 minutes on court number six. Serving at 9-10, Raja and Martin saved two match points but their opponents latched on to the third to claim a memorable win. “They hit good returns in that game and it made a difference,” Raja told PTI after the match. Both Lajovic (58), who lost to Roger Federer in the men’s singles opening round, and Basic (78) are top-100 singles players. There are five more Indians competing in the men’s doubles.