Sydney International: Final-round jitters get the better of Aisam-Bopanna

Pak-India doubles pair goes down 7-6, 7-6 to unseeded opponents.

KARACHI:

Aisamul Haq Qureshi and India’s Rohan Bopanna lost to former world number one doubles duo Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 7-6, 7-6 in the Sydney International final on Saturday.

Despite an impressive semi-final win against Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol and Portugal’s Joao Sousa, the third seeds failed to tame Nestor and Zimonjic in the decisive round.

Aisam and Bopanna fought hard from the beginning, but lost the first set 7-6 (7/3) on a tie break. Unseeded Nestor and Zimonjic then exhausted the duo in the second set to seal the win 7-6 (7/3) in an hour and 35 minutes.

After taking the runners-up trophies, the duo vowed to continue working hard and looking for improvement as the year progresses.

This was the Indo-Pak Express’ second tournament together this year. They played the Chennai Open earlier this month where they lost in the quarter-finals. Their next event will be the Australian Open, starting Monday.

The duo played their best tennis together and rose to fame after reaching the final of the 2010 US Open.

Del Potro overpowers Tomic in singles final

Juan Martin del Potro bludgeoned Bernard Tomic with his powerful forehand to win a lopsided final on Saturday.

The Argentine world number five took just 53 minutes to master the Australian defending champion 6-3, 6-1.

It was Del Potro’s 18th career title and he became the first Argentine to win in Sydney since David Nalbandian in 2009.

“Finals are never easy, but I was surprised at my level of play,” said Del Potro. “I think I played great. My forehand was perfect. I made a lot of winners, many aces.

“To start the year in this way is very positive; looking forward for the rest of the season. I need to keep working in the same conditions and the same way.”

It was Del Potro’s second win over the 52nd-ranked Tomic, who was defending his title after beating South African Kevin Anderson in last year’s final.

“I think Bernard was a little frustrated after seeing me very focused on the match and hitting the ball so well,” said the Argentine.

“He is still young, but he has everything to win titles, and he will reach more finals very soon.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2014.

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