Tennis: Aisam, Bopanna lose London Masters opener

LONDON:

Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Indian doubles partner Rohan Bopanna lost a tense opening clash against Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi at the London Masters.

Nestor and Mirnyi, the world number three pair, eked out a 7-6, 4-6, 11-9 win over the Indo-Pak duo.

Qureshi and Bopanna, who climbed to fifth position in the rankings after their win at the Paris Masters last week, have been placed in Group A of the prestigious event, for which they have qualified for the first time. The pair will also play matches against Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic, as well as Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in their other group encounters.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2011.