Tennis: Indo-Pak pair stumbles in London

Aisam, Bopanna suffer 2nd loss at World Tour Finals.

LONDON: The fifth-seeded pair of Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna crashed to their second defeat at the ATP World Tour Finals in a Group B match yesterday, losing 7-6, 6-3 to second seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic.

Aisam and Bopanna headed into yesterday’s encounter with a psychological advantage, having beaten the same opponents at the quarter-final stage of the BNP Paris Masters earlier this month.

On that occasion, the duo had shocked their higher-ranked opponents 3-6, 6-4, 10-6. However, there was to be no repeat of those heroics for the Indo-Pak pair this time around as they fell in straight sets.

Djokovic clears Berdych test

Earlier, world number one Novak Djokovic clawed his way to victory over Tomas Berdych in his opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals but Andy Murray’s prospects looked bleak after a groin injury flared up in his shock defeat by David Ferrer.

Djokovic, who arrived in London with question marks over his right shoulder, showed all the qualities that have made him the year’s dominant force, digging himself out of trouble to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 after saving a match point deep in the decider.

“That was the toughest match since the US Open,” said Djokovic, who won three of the year’s majors and grabbed the number one ranking from Rafael Nadal. “I wasn’t very satisfied with my performance, but a win is a win.”

On the other hand Murray, the form player in the world tipped by many to win the title in London, fell to a 6-4, 7-5 defeat to bustling Spaniard Ferrer.

Murray now faces an uphill battle to reach the semi-finals, even if he manages to continue in the face of injury concerns.

Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga also defeated Mardy Fish 7-6, 6-1 yesterday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2011.