Montreal Masters: Aisam-Bopanna enter third round

MONTREAL:

Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Indian doubles partner Rohan Bopanna made a fine start to their Montreal Masters campaign, beating Paul Hanley of Australia and Bruno Soares of Brazil 6-4, 7-6 to advance into the third round of the tournament.

The fifth-seed ‘Indo-Pak Express’ registered victory over their opponents in a closely fought contest.

Aisam and Rohan managed to capitalise on one break point they got in the first set, which they won by 6-4.

The second set, however, went to a tie-breaker which the Indo-Pak pair won.

The number five seeds will face the winner of the match between top-seeds Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan and Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez as the Indo-Pak Express looks to put behind their first-round exit at the ATP Legg Mason Classic last week.

Nadal crashes out

Meanwhile, world number two Rafael Nadal crashed out of the singles event in a shock second-round defeat at the hands of Croatia’s unseeded Ivan Dodig, who won 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.

The world number two was left downcast at his below-par show.

“I didn’t feel I played bad but I can’t say I played well,” he said. “In the decisive moments, I didn’t play well.”

Earlier, world number one Novak Djokovic shook off a slow start to beat Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1 to continue his winning ways.  The Serb has now won 49 of the 50 matches he has played this season.

Federer sets up clash with Tsonga

Third-seed Roger Federer began his run to the US Open with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Canada’s Vasek Pospisil.

The Swiss was playing his first match since his Wimbledon loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who also advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Australian Bernard Tomic.

Federer was raring to renew his rivalry against the Frenchman, who admitted he was wary of his Swiss opponent. “He’s still the best player ever and it’s still tough to play against him,” said Tsonga.

Vinci topples Wozniacki

World number one Caroline Wozniacki’s bid for a second-straight WTA Canada crown ended as the Dane was stunned by unseeded Roberta Vinci 6-4, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Serena Williams beat Julia Goerges 6-1, 7-6 to progress to the third round, while third-seed Vera Zvonareva, fourth-seed Victoria Azarenka and fifth-seed Maria Sharapova also advanced, as did French Open champion Li Na and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2011.