Indo Pak Express shock Mirnyi/Nestor to reach first ATP Masters 1000 final – BNP Paribas Masters 2011
Seventh seeded Indo Pak team of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi upset third seeds, Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Canadian Daniel Nestor, in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Masters 2011, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event
taking place on the indoor hard courts of Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in France. They registered a 6-3, 7-6(7) success over their higher ranked rivals to reach final at Masters 1000 event for the first time on Saturday.
The Indo Pak duo warded off late resistance to earn a straight set victory over the higher seeds in almost one and half hour long rally. They maintained their winning record and not only extended the lead by 2-0 in the head-to-head
series against Mirnyi/Nestor but also booked a final spot.
Bopanna and Qureshi played with their best co-ordination and cruised into the final set after cashing in the only breakpoint opportunity to their advantage. They defended the only breakpoint faced and broke the Belarusian Canadian
pair’s serve in the fourth game to clinch the opener with a 6-3 victory.
The Indo Pak junction produced more errors and clobbered a lower first serve share of 53 percent as compared to their rivals’ 60 percent. However, they registered an impressive 75 percent win on it and hammered three ferocious
aces.
The high flying Indo Pak team kept momentum sailing into the final set and after getting the first blood in the third game, they eventually went 3-1 up. However, they squandered their lead by losing their serve in the sixth game
and dragged the set to a tie-breaker. The winning seeds lifted their game again in it and subsequently pocketed the set with a 7-6(7) victory.
They failed to save the only breakpoint faced but cashed in half of the two breakpoint opportunities to their advantage. The blissful duo also manipulated a better first serve share of 64 percent in contrast with their opponent’s
61 percent and earned a magnificent 80 percent win on it.
The winning combination of Bopanna and Qureshi stayed on course to win their third year-to-date and their fourth ATP World Tour titles together. They triumphed at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle after defeating the Dutch Canadian
pair of Robin Haase and Milos Raonic and lifted the second one at If Stockholm Open after crippling Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares.
Up next for the Indo Pak tandem are the local wild card enterers, Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut. They crushed Mexican German collaboration of Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas with a breadstick to set-up this clash.
The Frenchmen last made a final berth together at Lyon in 2009 where bagged their second team title.
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