Sent packing: Aisam, Bopanna crash in semis

The Indo-Pak Express crashes in the men’s doubles semi-finals at the Indian wells.

The Indo-Pak Express consisting Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Rohan Bopanna crashed in the men’s doubles semi-finals at the Indian wells after going down to Belgian Xavier Malisse and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 3-6, 8-10.

The match went down to the wire with the Ukrainian-Belgian pair sealing off the victory in the super tie-break.  Aisam and Bopanna, ranked 15th, had a successful campaign, which included a win against the second-ranked Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes and an emphatic win over the Serbian pair of Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki in the quarter-finals.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2011.