Bopanna-sharan in final with another nail-biting win
PUNE: Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan came back from the brink for the second match in a row to reach the final of Tata Open Maharashtra, taming Simon Bolelli and Ivan Dodig in a thriller here on Friday.
The top-seeded Indians, playing first time on Tour as a team, knocked out the Italian-croatian pair 6-3, 3-6, 15-13 in one hour and 33 minutes after saving two match points in the super tiebreak. They had saved six match points on Thursday against Leander Paes and Miguel Angel Reyesvarela before winning.
It was a tough test for the new Indian team as it was up against players who have a Grand Slam crown each to their credit, and the home team played better than its previous clash.
Bolelli, a top-50 singles player in 2009, had won the 2015 Australian Open doubles with fellow Italian Fabio Fognini while Dodig also won his first and only men’s doubles Grand Slam crown in the same year at French Open with Marcelo Melo.
Bopanna as usual was solid with his returns while lefthander Sharan put up a better show than Thursday.
It will be the first final on the ATP World Tour for both players. Bopanna last played a final when he won the Vienna event in October 2017 with Pablo Cuevas and Sharan won the Antwerp title with Scott Lipksy in the same month.
“We played a better match, happy to ride the wave. It was completely different from Thursday, these guys were returning stronger,” said Bopanna. “To have an Indian team back on Tour is good and we are improving. But it will take some time to set patterns. We have not played much together and need some offcourt practice together.”
KARLOVIC’S RECORD
Ivo Karlovic, 39, on Friday became the oldest man in more than four decades to reach an ATP final after securing a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 over Belgium’s Steve Darcis at the Maharashtra Open. Karlovic will now face top seed Kevin Anderson, who beat Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-6 in the other semi-final.
shooting sensation Manu Bhaker on Friday reminded Haryana sports minister, Anil Vij, of ~2 crore cash award promise, which he made after her Youth Olympic gold medal, but is yet to fulfil.
“Sir Please confirm if it is correct... Or just Jumla (sic),” Bhaker wrote on Twitter. The 16-year-old Bhaker caught the attention with her exploits in shooting ranges , winning multiple gold medals.