Aisam, Bopanna storm into semis
Pakistan’s Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Indian partner Rohan Bopanna shocked second-seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Max Mirny of Belarus 6-1, 7-5 to storm into the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Tennis Championship.
Nestor and Mirny, the former top-ranked doubles team, were beaten in one hour and ten minutes on the Princess Court of Monte Carlo Tennis Complex as the Indo-Pak Express exemplified blistering form and Aisam made no mistake, closing the first set in just 21 minutes.
The second set was an evenly-contested affair with break of serves on both sides and the score was level at 5-5 before the subcontinent sealed the win with the help of three aces. In the semi-final, Aisam and Bopanna will face Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina and Bruno Soares of Brazil.
Melzer stuns Federer
Jurgen Melzer handed Roger Federer only his fifth loss of the season as the Austrian came through in a virtual sandstorm with a 6-4, 6-4 quarter-final victory.
The Swiss was quick to admit he was outplayed on the day as he missed on too many chances.
“I don’t think I played terrible,” said Federer. “It’s still the first week of clay, so I don’t expect myself to play my very best.”
Melzer remained ecstatic. “I beat Rafa last year. I have beaten Djokovic. So this was the one missing. I’m very happy I actually did it today.”
Spain’s fourth-seed David Ferrer will face Melzer in the semis after defeating Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-3. Federer stands 24-5 this season with his losses coming three times to Novak Djokovic and once to Rafael Nadal before Melzer who was playing his first Monte Carlo quarter-final.
Nadal in blistering form
Top-seed Nadal won his 35th consecutive match at Monte Carlo by crushing Ivan Ljubicic 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.
Nadal improved to a phenomenal 37-1 record at the venue, with his only loss coming to Guillermo Coria on his debut in 2003.
The Spaniard, who is bidding for a seventh successive title at the event, will next face Scottish third-seed Andy Murray. The Scot, who had not won a match in almost three months before this week, continued his revival with a rampant 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil.
The third-seed avoided the crowd boos which followed his use of drop shots against injured Frenchman Gilles Simon in Thursday’s third round but knows he will be up against fan favourite Nadal today in what is already a daunting task.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2011.
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