French Open: Character Trumps ‘Best Pair of 2022’
Besting the year’s form pair in three testing YONEX French Open 2022 second round games is a sign their work on mental fortitude is paying dividends, believe Ben Lane and Sean Vendy.
· PREM KUMAR
Having lost the opener 21-16 to newly-crowned Denmark Open kings Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, the English pair showed great character to claw back from 13-8 in the second game and then recover from a fluffed shot when one match point down to win 23-21.
“They were both running forward and I spooned it to the side. But we stayed focused, even though that happened at a crucial period,” recalled Lane.
The rubber was close until interval, before Lane and Vendy broke away to the finishing line. Since winning the Swiss Open in late March, this marks Alfian/Ardianto’s earliest exit.