Jan. 6: The Indo-Pak Express ran out of steam as Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi bowed out of the doubles event losing to David Martin and Robin Haase 4-6, 5-7 in the quarterfinals of the Chennai Open on Thursday. With Bopanna-Aisam’s elimination, the local hope is now rested on the shoulders of veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who will take on Philipp Marx and ken Skupski in the quarterfinal on Friday.
Meanwhile it was learnt that Leander was down with fever and he even skipped promotional activities scheduled for the day, while Bhupathi went to Mumbai on a personal visit. He, however, returned to the city same night. Meanwhile, Janko Tipsarevic made his third straight quarterfinal trip as he beat Alexandre Kudryavtsev 6-2, 7-6(3). The Serbian braved a viral fever to end Kudryavtsev’s brilliant run from the qualifying rounds with a workman-like display.
Sixth-seed Tipsarevic, who is coming off an inconsistent year, had been struggling with flu for the last couple of days, but showed no signs of illness on the court. Tipsarevic wrapped up the first set in just under 30 minutes, breaking his opponent in the fourth and eighth game.
Kudryavtsev found it hard to cope with the sheer power of Tipsarevic’s groundstrokes. On the other hand, Tipsarevic’s serves worked wonders. He dropped just four points on serve in the entire first set. In the second set, the lanky Russian survived three break points to make it 3-3. Then, the two players held their respective service games to force the decider where Tipsarevic surged to a 4-1 lead before sealing the match. Tipsarevic was bowled over by Chennai fans for chanting his name throughout the match. “This is my fourth appearance here and honestly, every time I come back, I feel like I am playing the Davis Cup in front of the Serbian fans,” he said. Tipsarevic next faces Kei Nishikori, who beat Alejandro Falla 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a dramatic turnaround.
Nishikori, who ousted defending champion Marin Cilic, began on a wrong note, losing the first set without a fight to the Colombian 4-6.
Selected Results
Singles (II Round): Janko Tipsarevic (Srb) bt Alexandre Kudryavtsev (Rus) 6-2, 7-6 (3); Kei Nishikori (Jpn) bt Alexandre Falla (Col) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Robin Haase (Ned) bt Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.