Indo-Pak Express ease into the semis at St. Petersburg
The team of Indian Rohan Bopanna and Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, nicknamed the “Indo-Pak Express”, eased their way into the semis after winning their quarterfinal match at St. Petersburg Open on Thursday.
Seeded second in the tournament, the pair faced the team of Serbs, Janko Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki. Even though they lost the first set 3-6 to the Serbs, they bounced back in the second set winning it 7-6(4). As the game entered
the tie breaker, the team of Bopanna and Qureshi took a strong lead and finally won the tie breaker 10-1.
Qureshi and Bopanna had earlier defeated the team of Russian number one, Mikhail Youzhny and Ukrainian number one, Sergiy Stakhovsky in their first round match in the event. Bopanna / Qureshi won the first set and sailed their
way into the second set, when at 2-2 the momentum of the game changed in the Russians favour. The Russians won the set 6-2. As the match entered a tie breaker, Bopanna and Qureshi held points on their own serves and took the lead to 10-3 winning the match.
The final match score was 6-2, 2-6, 10-3.
This was the duo’s second face-off against the Serbs for a title run in Russia. Last week they competed and lost in the 2010 Kremlin Cup as they were ousted from the tournament in the first round by the Serbs. The Serbs humiliated
the pair with a 6-4, 7-5 win as they eased their way into the quarterfinals. Tipsarevic and Troicki eventually found their way into the final, losing the title to locals, Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn.
The pair has given much appreciated performance this season. Bopanna and Qureshi first made news when they reached the men’s doubles final at the 2010 United States Open. Though they lost the final to the Americans, Mike and Bob
Bryan, they received much fame for their outstanding performance. Their previous acclaimed performance was at the Wimbledon 2010, when they reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the very first time. They made it to the quarterfinals at the 2010 Shanghai
Rolex Masters as well, though they lost that match to eventual champions Jurgen Melzer and Leander Paes.
With a title win at St. Petersburg, the pair has a chance of qualifying at the Finals in London. Their win against the Serbs not only avenges the defeat in the Kremlin Cup, but it also brings them a step closer to a title win and
being the top seeded team in the running now, they are the favourites to win the title.
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