Debutant Lindstedt/Tecau dump the Indian Express in RR – Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2011
A dream debut for the sixth ranked duo of Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania at the Barclays ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour Finals, as it took down the fourth seeded Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in an opening Group A match for the Round Robin stage on Monday night.
The Indian duo hung in the contest for one hour and twenty eight minutes before succumbing in the second set to let the debutants away with an emphatic victory in their first matchup at the mega event. Lindstedt and Tecau settled the final scores at 7-6(6), 6-1, to earn a top position in Group A.
Finishing at number six in the ATP Year-to-Date World Team Rankings this season, Lindstedt and Tecau made it to the circuit ending grand finale for the first time and their impactful start depicts that they are well up for reaching glory at the final showdown of the year. The sixth seed pair improved 39-21 after Monday’s victory, getting into a strong position to make it through to the semi-finals of the tournament.
Bhupathi and Paes came to London as one of the strong contenders for the prestigious season ending mega event. They have already won three doubles championship titles in the current year so far but they posed an ordinary performance on Monday night to let the debutants away with an astounding victory. The Indians have diminished their chances for making it to the final four of the tournament and need to win their remaining two Round Robin matches with good margins to book a berth in the semis.
Lindstedt and Tecau nailed two break points in the opening set but a similar response from the Indians took the set into a tie breaker round. Bhupathi and Paes couldn’t survive the tie breaker, submitting it to the crafty opponents. Lindstedt and Tecau stung two breaks of serve in the following set to rocket away to victory with ease, reaching the top of the standings in Group A.
Lindstedt and Tecau will meet the world number one duo of the Bryan Brothers, Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan, of the United States in their next Group A matchup on Wednesday evening. The most successful duo on the World Tour this season, Bryan Brothers have already won the ATP World Tour Finals on three prior occasions. They were off to a scary start in this year’s campaign in London, narrowly escaping defeat to win their first Round Robin matchup against the seventh seed pair of Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner, 6-7(4), 7-5, 10-7, on Monday night as well.
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