Troicki/Wawrinka stun Bhupathi/Bopanna in doubles second round – Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
Unseeded Serb-Swiss combination of Viktor Troicki and Stanislas Wawrinka stunned the sixth seeded Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna in the second round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters on Wednesday. They took just
56 minutes to overpower the hot favourite Indian team in twin sets, 6-4, 6-4, to book a berth in the quarter-final rounds of the ATP (Association of Tennis Association) Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Rated at number five in the ATP World Doubles Rankings, the Indian duo utterly failed to put up a decent performance on Wednesday against the underdog opponents. Bhupathi and Bopanna had already won a doubles championship title
this season and were having a 13-6 winning record prior to this matchup. They appeared rusty right from the beginning and kept trailing behind their crafty opponents throughout the contest to finish on the losing side in the end.
Troicki and Wawrinka developed great chemistry among themselves, stringing their individual skills brilliantly to take the better of their seeded opponents. They kept the games short and professionals, cruising through both sets
to register victory within an hour’s time. The Serb-Swiss duo delivered 59 per cent of its first serve on target but lost only six points on it, bagging 23 out of 29, en route to victory. Troicki and Wawrinka had five break points in the match and they converted
four of them, whilst the sixth seeded Indians could merely register two out of their five serve breaks.
The action started off from the very first game, with Troicki and Wawrinka nailing two serve breaks straight up to race away to 3-0 lead in no time. Bhupathi and Bopanna regrouped quickly and came up with a break point conversion
in the fourth game to halt their opponents’ winning momentum. The unseeded competitors kept their lead in-tact and a regular game finished off the first set at 6-4 in their favour.
Bhupathi and Bopanna came out firing at their opponents in the second set and flew away to 3-0 in the opening 10 minutes of play. A thumping comeback from the unseeded duo stunned the Indians, as Troicki and Wawrinka stung two
successive serve breaks in the seventh and ninth games. They served out of the match at 5-4, marching into the quarter-final round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters.
Troicki and Wawrinka will face either the second seeded pair of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor or the combination of Marin Cilic and Marcelo Melo in the quarter-finals.
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