agence france-presse
London, Nov 16: Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea started their campaign at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals with a bang, beating top seeds and defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan 6-4, 6-3 in their men’s doubles opening rubber of Group Ashe/Smith here Sunday evening at the O2 Arena.
Bopanna and Mergea, who were the last pair to qualify for the event, defeated the Bryan brothers the second time out of their four meetings so far. The last time they had beaten the American combo was in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon earlier this year.
In the opening set, both pairs utilised a number of breakpoints to go neck-and-neck before Bopanna held on in the 10th game to grab the initial advantage.
The second set saw Bopanna and Mergea breaking early to take a 2-0 lead. Thereafter they had it easy and the eighth seeds simply tightened the nooze.
The American pair committed a couple of unforced errors and the two crucial break points enabled Bopanna and Mergea to wrap up the match with a comfortable win. The Indo-Romanian combine will next face the British-Australian fourth-seeded duo of Jamie Murray and John Peers. A win in that match would guarantee them a place in the semifinals.