Bhupathi/Bopanna upset Fyrstenberg/Matkowski to reach semis – Western & Southern Open 2012
Sixth seeded Indian tandem of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati by toppling the third seeds, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 in the quarter-finals of Western
& Southern Open on Friday.
The Indian duo needed one hour and 13 minutes to post win over their Polish opponents.
Bhupathi/Bopanna and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski began by winning their opening serves to take the score to 1-1. The Indian combination hit blows to their rivals in the third and fifth game, consolidating on them to race to a 5-1 advantage.
The Polish pair almost came at par, as they won three in a row to reduce the trail to 4-5. However, Bhupathi and Bopanna managed to hold their serve in the 10th to finish it 6-4.
In the second set, both teams held their serve in the first three games to take the score to 2-1 in favour of Fyrstenberg and Matkowski. The Polish players snatched a break in the fourth and consolidated on it to attain a 4-1 lead.
Fyrstenberg and Matkowski did not allow Bhupathi and Bopanna to bounce back, capturing it 6-3.
The Polish duo claimed three of the first four points in the match tie-breaker to move ahead 3-1. Though, Bhupathi and Bopanna bounced back to square off the proceedings at 4-4. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski again moved ahead to 7-5
but the Indian tandem snatched five of the following six points to grab it 10-8.
Bhupathi and Bopanna fired four aces and committed three double faults, hitting 55 percent of the first serves and pocketing 25 of the 32 points on them. On the other hand, Fyrstenberg and Matkowski banged in three aces but they
committed five double faults at the same time. The Polish team had a low first serve percentage at 42 but managed to win 23 of the 25 points on them. Bhupathi and Bopanna utilised two of the six break opportunities they created and put away one of the three
they came across in the match.
The Indians will face the unseeded Czech-Brazilian pair of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the semi-finals.
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