Bopanna/Mergea falter in Sydney International final

The fourth seeds were the favourites for the title before the match, and the duo broke Soares in the very first serve to cement the claim. It changed in seconds, though, as Bopanna lost his serve. After two successive breaks, normalcy returned to the match with both pairs winning their serves to march ahead toe-to-toe until Mergea’s loss of serve in the 8th game put the pair of Murray and Soares ahead at 5-3. Soares finished off the set in the next game to take the set 6-3.

Bopanna and Mergea'sform today looked a shadow of the one which led them to the ATP World Tour Final in December. The Indian known for his expertise in finishing volleys made a mess of them in consecutive occasions to give the edge to the unseeded pair. Bopanna was made to rue the glorious chance to go ahead that he had in the second set, when the teams were locked at 2-2. The Indian smashed the volley straight into the net with an open court in front of him before the rain paid a visit to the court.

The deadlock between the pairs followed a similar pattern in the second set with both teams keeping their serve to go into the tie-breaker at 6-6. Bopanna and Mergea seemed to be cruising into the decider by racing to a 5-0 lead. Murray and Soares produced an unbelievable comeback in the tie-breaker by winning the next four consecutive points. They eventually made it to match point at 7-6 and took the title with another unforced error from the Indian.

Bopanna, who won the title last year with Daniel Nestor, was forced to rue his misses in the final, which could have very well turned in their favour.