Bhupathi/Bopanna shock Paes/Stepanek to reach title match – ATP World Tour Finals 2012
Fifth seeded all Indian team of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna put away one match point to upset the third seeds, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, 4-6, 6-1, 12-10 to get just one win away from capturing the Barclays ATP World
Tour Finals in London.
Before this match, Paes and Stepanek was the only doubles team which had not lost even a single match at this event but Bhupathi and Bopanna took their revenge, as they had lost to the same pair in the final of the Shanghai Rolex
Masters three weeks ago.
The all Indian duo also entered this event in top form, winning their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Paris right before the start of this tournament.
Coming back to the latest match, both teams made a stable start, convincingly holding their serves in the first half to square off the score at 3-3. Paes and Stepanek made breakthrough in the seventh and held the advantage till
the end to triumph 6-4.
Second set went with serves in the first three games to take the score to 2-1 in favour of Bhupathi and Bopanna. The Indian tandem hit blows to Paes and Stepanek in the fourth and sixth, winning their entire serves to claim it
6-1.
Bhupathi and Bopanna were down 3-7 in the match tie-breaker at one stage but then they started to make a spirited comeback. The Indian combination faced a match point at 8-9 but managed to save it and then bagged three of the next
four points to win 12-10.
Comparing the serve statistics of these two duos, Bhupathi and Bopanna were far ahead of their rivals, as they banged in a total of seven aces and clinched 30 of the 37 first delivery points in the match.
When asked to comment on the tough situation they faced in the super tie-breaker, Bhupathi said, “It was enjoyable at the end. In this format, things change very quickly. We just had to keep our heads down and fight.”
Bopanna added, “We just wanted to make sure that we kept aggressive on the court. They came up with a couple of good volleys to be ahead in the tie-break. We didn’t play any bad points as such.”
Talking of their recent success, Bhupathi stated, “We wouldn’t mind a few more weeks on tour. We have got one match to go and [after we] get back into focus, after celebrating for the next two hours. We’d like to finish with the
title here.”
The Indian team will lock horns with Marc Granollers and Marcel Lopez in the final.
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