Bopanna/ Mergea storm into ATP World Tour Finals title-clash
Eighth seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea defeated third seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the semi-final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday. The Indo-Romanian pair needed less than an hour to secure the 6-4, 6-2 victory at the O2 Arena in London.
Last to qualify for the tournament, but first to qualify for the finals- that is the story of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea at the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo would be cursing their luck after going down to the Indo-Romanian pair in the semi-final. Had it not been for Dodig and Melo’s victory over Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock in the final of Paris Masters, Bopanna and Mergea would not have qualified for the season-ender. The semi-final victory also was sweet revenge for the Indo-Romanian pair for their defeat in the quarters at Paris Masters.
Going into the match, Bopanna and Mergea had a 2-1 head-to-head record against the third seeded pair of Dodig and Melo. With Dodig and Melo in contention to become year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings, the match was touted to be a nail-biter. However, a clinical Bopanna and Mergea destroyed the third seeds in less than an hour.
In the first set, Bopanna and Mergea went ahead by breaking Ivan Dodig in the fifth game. With Bopanna’s smashing backhands and clinical net-play causing problems, the Indo-Romanian pair held on to their serves to win the first set 6-4 in 29 minutes.
In the second set, Bopanna and Mergea stepped up their game a notch. Dodig was broken again in the third game as the eight seeded pair went ahead. However, Dodig and Melo broke Mergea back to level things up at 2-2. Marcelo Melo, the World No.1 in doubles and Bopanna’s former partner was broken in the next game by Bopanna/Mergea to again take a lead. With Dodig broken again in the next game, Bopanna finished off the match with a smashing forehand.
The Indo-Romanian pair will now face the winners of the match between Bryan brothers (who they had earlier upset) and Rojer and Tecau on Sunday in the title clash.