Bopanna-Kubot knocked out in semis of Shanghai Masters 2015

Bopanna-Kubot knocked out in semis of Shanghai Masters 2015

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The Indo-Polish pair of Rohan Bopanna and Lukasz Kubot lost to sixth seeded pair, Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 10-7 in the second semi-final of the Shanghai Masters 2015.

Bopanna and Kubot, who were the eighth seeded team in the tournament, had a chance to break their opponent's serve in the seventh game of the first set. However, they failed to convert this opportunity, which proved to be very costly in the end.

Klaasen and Melo, on the other hand, didn't fail to convert the break point they received in the next game and were soon serving for the set at 5-3. Bopanna and Kubot fought back though, and at 30-40, had two break points to bring the set back on serve. But the pair failed to convert yet again and lost the first set 6-3.

Klaasen and Melo, the current world number three in doubles ranking, threatened to break in the opening game of the second set, but the Indo-Polish pair managed to hold serve. In fact, Bopanna and Kubot finally managed to convert an opportunity to break in the fourth game and consolidated that break by serving out the fifth game.

With a 4-1 lead, it seemed like Bopanna and Kubot will run away with the second set, but they had to toil hard for it.

Klaasen and Melo broke back immediately and went on to win four of the next five games. The set went into a tie-break in the end, which proved to be one-sided. Kubot and Bopanna won the tie-break 7-1 to tie the match at one set each.

In the third set, which is played as a tie-break, Bopanna and Kubot raced to a 4-1 lead to raise hopes of reaching the final. But Klaasen and Melo won nine of the next 12 points to win the set 10-7, and with it a place in the final of the Shanghai Masters 2015.

It was a sweet victory for Klaasen in particular, who lost to Kubot (and Robert Lindstedt) in the men's doubles final of the 2014 Australian Open. Melo, who partnered Bopanna back in 2013, now has a golden opportunity to rise to the top-two in the doubles ranking if his team defeats the all-Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini in the final.

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