Tennis: Aisam, Bopanna ousted in first round of Japan Open
Duo crash out after straight-sets defeat in first match after being reunited.
TOKYO:
Top-seeds Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out in the first round of the doubles event at the Japan Open, losing to the Brazilian duo of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-4, 6-3.
This was the first outing for Aisam and Bopanna together since the pair lost in the semi-finals of the US Open. The duo will now have to do well at the Shanghai Masters that starts next week to ensure that they qualify for the World Tour Finals in London.
Murray survives tough
test in Japan
Meanwhile, world number four Andy Murray suffered a major scare before finally beating a dogged Marcos Baghdatis to reach the second round of the singles event.
The 24-year-old, fresh from victory at the Thailand Open last week, needed a tough two hours and 33 minutes to see off the Cypriot 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 and later admitted he had to work extremely hard for the win.
“That was very tough and long,” said Murray. “I did a lot of running, especially in the first two sets. We were playing good tennis in the third set, but in the first two sets he definitely played better than me. It’s lucky that I got the first-set tie-break. He’s a tough guy to play against and has a big serve.”
Murray got off to a slow start, going down 0-2 in the first set before battling back to go a set ahead on the tie-break. He went down 0-4 in the second set and never recovered, as Baghdatis won comfortably.
The second-seed was again 1-3 down in the final set but managed to make it 3-3 and went on to take a 5-4 lead, clinching his ticket to the second round when Baghdatis hit a backhand out.
Meanwhile, Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic, who defeated Baghdatis in the Malaysian Open final, failed to keep the momentum, losing to Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 7-6, 6-7, 7-5. American Mardy Fish beat Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 6-4. Bernard Tomic battled hard to beat Tatsuma Ito 6-7, 6-1, 7-5.
Ivanovic upsets Zvonareva in China
Elsewhere, former world number one Ana Ivanovic demolished third-seed Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1 as the upsets continued at the China Open.
Ivanovic became the first player into the quarter-finals as she showed the kind of scintillating form that once made her the highest-rated player on the women’s tour. Ivanovic credited the progress to her new team of coaches.
“The beginning of the season was tough for me,” she said. “But since Wimbledon I’ve had a new team with me, new coach and fitness coach. I really feel I’m on the right path.”
Meanwhile, Pole Agnieszka Radwanska beat China’s Zheng Jie 6-1, 6-4. The 11th-seed saved five of six break points and broke Zheng’s serve four times. Second-seed Victoria Azarenka also went through to the third round, with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Polona Hercog.
In the men’s draw, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco defeated Italy’s Flavio Cipolla 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Mikhail Youzhny advanced over Feliciano Lopez 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, ignoring 20 aces from the Spaniard, who also struck 10 double-faults. Tomas Berdych demolished Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-0.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2011.
Top-seeds Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out in the first round of the doubles event at the Japan Open, losing to the Brazilian duo of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-4, 6-3.
This was the first outing for Aisam and Bopanna together since the pair lost in the semi-finals of the US Open. The duo will now have to do well at the Shanghai Masters that starts next week to ensure that they qualify for the World Tour Finals in London.
Murray survives tough
test in Japan
Meanwhile, world number four Andy Murray suffered a major scare before finally beating a dogged Marcos Baghdatis to reach the second round of the singles event.
The 24-year-old, fresh from victory at the Thailand Open last week, needed a tough two hours and 33 minutes to see off the Cypriot 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 and later admitted he had to work extremely hard for the win.
“That was very tough and long,” said Murray. “I did a lot of running, especially in the first two sets. We were playing good tennis in the third set, but in the first two sets he definitely played better than me. It’s lucky that I got the first-set tie-break. He’s a tough guy to play against and has a big serve.”
Murray got off to a slow start, going down 0-2 in the first set before battling back to go a set ahead on the tie-break. He went down 0-4 in the second set and never recovered, as Baghdatis won comfortably.
The second-seed was again 1-3 down in the final set but managed to make it 3-3 and went on to take a 5-4 lead, clinching his ticket to the second round when Baghdatis hit a backhand out.
Meanwhile, Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic, who defeated Baghdatis in the Malaysian Open final, failed to keep the momentum, losing to Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 7-6, 6-7, 7-5. American Mardy Fish beat Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 6-4. Bernard Tomic battled hard to beat Tatsuma Ito 6-7, 6-1, 7-5.
Ivanovic upsets Zvonareva in China
Elsewhere, former world number one Ana Ivanovic demolished third-seed Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1 as the upsets continued at the China Open.
Ivanovic became the first player into the quarter-finals as she showed the kind of scintillating form that once made her the highest-rated player on the women’s tour. Ivanovic credited the progress to her new team of coaches.
“The beginning of the season was tough for me,” she said. “But since Wimbledon I’ve had a new team with me, new coach and fitness coach. I really feel I’m on the right path.”
Meanwhile, Pole Agnieszka Radwanska beat China’s Zheng Jie 6-1, 6-4. The 11th-seed saved five of six break points and broke Zheng’s serve four times. Second-seed Victoria Azarenka also went through to the third round, with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Polona Hercog.
In the men’s draw, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco defeated Italy’s Flavio Cipolla 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Mikhail Youzhny advanced over Feliciano Lopez 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, ignoring 20 aces from the Spaniard, who also struck 10 double-faults. Tomas Berdych demolished Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-0.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2011.