Bopanna/Mergea move to semis despite losing dead rubber

Having already qualified for the semi- finals after beating the World No.1 Bryan brothers and fourth seeded pairing of Jamie Murray and John Peers, the Indo-Romanian appeared to be in a casual mood against the Italians in the first set. Bopanna and Mergea were broken in the very first game by the Italians. Bopanna and Mergea struggled throughout and committed silly mistakes to hand over the first set to Fognini and Bolelli 6-4- the only set dropped by Bopanna and Mergea in the tournament so far.

Bopanna and Mergea turned it around in the second set, showing their clinical form which took them to the semis. With Bopanna’s backhand smashes and first serves causing the Italians huge problems, the Indo- Romanian pair won the second set 6-1, breaking the serve twice.

The tie-breaker saw the Italian pair racing to a lead of 7- 2. Bopanna and Mergea came back into the match by winning the next three points. However, with Bopanna making unforced errors at the net, the unbeaten run of the Indo- Romanian pair came to an end. Fognini and Bolelli went on to win the tie-breaker 10- 5 and pocketed the match 2- 1.