Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes oust Michael Llodra/Nenad Zimonjic to advance to the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open
World number three, Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes defeated French/Serbian pair of Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic in three sets 6-3, 6-7(4), 10-7 in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Wednesday.
Bhupathi and Paes took 1 hour and 44 minutes to oust their opponents.
The Indians broke their opponents twice in the opening set, winning it 6-3. Bhupathi and Paes did not serve quite well in the first set as they did not hit any ace and committed 3 double faults. They delivered just 48 per cent
of the first serves in the first set, winning 75 per cent of the points on them. Bhupathi and Paes converted 2 of the 4 break points they received in the set. The Indians saved all the 5 break points they faced in the opening set.
In the second set, none of the two pairs was able to break other’s serve, levelling the score at 6-6 to force a tie-break. Llodra and Zimonjic clinched 2 mini-breaks in the tie-break to claim it 7-4.
The French/Serbian pair fired in 56 per cent of the first serves and converted 75 per cent of them into points in the second set. Llodra and Zimonjic saved all the 3 break points they faced in the second set.
In the match tie-break, the Indian pair hit a couple of superb volleys to claim 2 mini-breaks and capitalized on them to win the match tie-break 10-7. Bhupathi and Paes kept their first serve percentage at 50 per cent in the match
tie-break and won 75 per cent of the points on their first serves.
The Indian pair started the season by winning the title at the Aircel Chennai Open, beating the Dutch/American pair of Robin Haase and David Martin 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-7 in the finals. The Indian Express was stopped from completing
the career grand slam, losing to the world number 1, American pair of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in straight sets 3-6, 4-6 in the title match. In their last tournament at the BNP Paribas Open, Bhupathi and Paes lost to “The Indo-Pak Express” Rohan Bopanna and
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 3-6, 4-6 in the round of 16.
The Indian duo is appearing at the Sony Ericsson Open for the fourth time. It could not go past the second round on the first three occasions. In their debut at this championship, the Indians lost to the Zimbabwean/Canadian pair
of Bryon Black and Grant Connell 4-6, 6-7 in the second round in 1997.
Bhupathi and Paes are drawn to face Austrian/Serbian pair of Olivier Marach and Janko Tipsarevic in the semi-finals. Marach and Tipsarevic prevailed over Bopanna and Qureshi in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(8) in the quarter-finals.
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