Race to London Update: Indo-Pak express Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi fail to make the cut
With ten days to go for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, only one spot remains for the doubles category as two more clinched their places in the final after Thursday’s play at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi advanced to the quarterfinals in Paris after a tight win of 3-6, 6-1, and 10-5 over the team of Jonathan Erlich and Michael Kohlmann. Later in the evening, Bryan brothers Bob and Mike defeated Wesley
Moodie and d**k Norman in the doubles quarterfinal in Paris securing a spot for Bhupathi and Mirnyi in the finals.
The Bryan duo’s win also ensured a spot for the team of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the final eight teams to play in the finals. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski, seeded third in the Paris Masters event, were knocked out
of the title run by Wesley and Moodie.
The last addition to the eight-team-field came earlier in the week when the team of Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach humiliated Spaniards Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer with a 6-3, 6-0 win.
The Bryans and the pair of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic were the first to qualify for the finals in London after guaranteed finishes at the top two positions in the year-to-date rankings.
Although they currently rank at twelfth position in the YTD rankings, the team of Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner were guaranteed a spot in the final eight after they lifted the cup at Wimbledon. Melzer, who also hoped for
a singles qualification this year, was left disappointed after American Andy Roddick moved into the quarterfinals in Paris today.
The team of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi failed to make the cut following their defeat in their second-round match against Andy Ram and Mark Knowles. The acclaimed US Open finalists currently rank at number eight in the
YTD rankings and with only one spot remaining have no hopes for a qualification this year. Their defeat in the finals at Flushing Meadows, confirmed the already sure-shot entry of Melzer and Petzschner in the final eight.
The two teams now fighting for the remaining spot are that of Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak and that of Moodie and Norman. Failing to win a title in Paris this week, Cermak and Mertinak will lose their spot to Moodie and
Norman. Cermak and Mertinak will play Bhupathi/Mirnyi or Nestor/Zimonjic in the semi-final later in the event. Moodie and Norman will play the team of Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy in the Paris quarterfinal. Paes and Dlouhy were the third team to qualify for
the final eight.
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