Bhupathi/Bopanna prevail over Felder/Jaziri in the opening round – Wimbledon Championships 2012
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna of India made a flying start, beating Uruguayan-Tunisian duo of Marcel Felder and Malek Jaziri in straight sets 6-0, 7-6(1), 6-2 in the opening round at the Wimbledon Championships.
Playing at the grass courts of All England Club, the Indians needed only an hour and 36 minutes to come out victorious from the match.
Bhupathi and Bopanna played flawlessly in the opener, as they did not allow the Uruguyan-Tunisian tandem to claim even a single game till the end, breaking them three times and winning all of their own serves to close it 6-0.
The story of the second set was completely opposite to the first one, as both teams went neck to neck till the end, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. However, the Indian team completely dominated afterwards,
as they captured three mini-breaks and dropped only one point, grabbing it 7-6(1).
In the third set, both teams started by holding their serve in the opening two games to even out the score at 1-1. Bhupathi and Bopanna hit a blow to their rivals in the third and consolidated on it to move ahead 3-1. The Indians
continued their winning spree and pocketed two more games, taking their lead to 5-1. Felder and Jaziri succeeded in claiming one more game and reducing the trail to 2-5 but they could not close the gap any further, losing it 2-6.
Ranked seventh in the world, Bhupathi and Bopanna were part of a partnership row for the Olympics in their country. They were allowed to play together in the end but Bhupathi’s mixed doubles partner, Sania Mirza, was paired up
with Leander Paes.
Talking to the reporters after his match against Felder and Jaziri, Bhupathi said, "Things couldn't have got uglier for us in Indian tennis the last week. It's an unbelievable situation they have put her in and I obviously sympathise
with Sania. I feel for her in her letter.”
He added, "As far as I'm concerned, I'm committed to her. We're playing here, and if we get a chance to, we will play the Olympics. In her letter she clearly stated that we have won two Grand Slam titles, one as close as two weeks
ago. They have to worry about if they want to win a medal for the country -- or, as she said, keep one player happy."
Bhupathi and Bopanna are drawn to meet either Mikhail Elgin and Denis Istomin or Pablo Andujar and Guillermo-Garcia Lopez in the second round.
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