Bhupathi-Bopanna crash out in semis
Top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna squandered a 2-0 lead in the second set, after having won the first, to crash out in the semifinals against Israeli combine of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in front of loud home supporters at the Nungabakkam Centre Court on Saturday.
The Chennai Open crowd, however, had something to cheer about later as Leander Paes, partnering Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, ensured an Indian presence in final day’s action by storming into the doubles final. The third-seeded pair struggled past second-seeded Americans Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram 6-2, 6-7 (1-7), 10-8. Trailing 0-5 in the Super tie-break, the Indo-Serbian pair staged a remarkable comeback win, mainly through Paes’ excellent work at the net, to send the late-night crowd into delirium.
Much against the run of play, Bhupathi-Bopanna, who had combined so well to dominate the proceedings in the opening set, fell apart midway through the second to lose 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 in close to an hour and half. Sharing the court only for the second time, after a brief association in the 2010 event here, it was the first big test for the Bangaloreans as they were facing the doubles specialists unlike the singles players in the first two rounds.
The duo, however, was unperturbed by the setback ahead of the Australian Open. “For us, we dominated a good 40 minutes,” pointed out Bhupathi. “We made a few tactical errors which allowed them back into the game. It all boils down to new partnership again. Yes, we should have won the match but it’s good preparation for the Australian Open,” he observed.
Until the fourth game of the second set, with Bhupathi on serve, everything was going the Indians’ way when some avoidable errors began their slide. While Bopanna hit a simple volley into the net, Bhupathi put one long before a forehand winner from Erlich gave the Israelis three break points. Though the crowd favourites managed to take the game to deuce, they couldn’t save it. Bhupathi was broken again in the eighth game as the game went into Super tie-break.
Results: Doubles (semifinals, prefix denotes seeding): 4-Jonathan Erlich/ Andy Ram (Isr) bt 1-Mahesh Bhupathi/ Rohan Bopanna (Ind) 4-6, 6-3, 10-8; 3-Leander Paes (Ind)/ Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) bt 2-Scott Lipsky/ Rajeev Ram (USA) 6-2, 6-7 (1-7), 10-7.
