Yukidivij make doubles semis, Bopannajeevan lose in straight sets

PUNE: The scratch pair of Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan kept the Indian flag flying in the Tata Open Maharashtra on Thursday by booking a place in the men’s doubles semi-finals, stunning the top-seeded combination in the process.

Bhambri and Sharan, who came together for this tournament, survived a second-set resurgence by beating Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Franko Skugor of Croatia in the quarterfinals 7-5, 2-6, 10-6 on Court One.

Bhambri and Sharan are now the only Indian pair remaining in contention as defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan crashed out to the all-french combine of Pierre-hugues Herbert and Gilles Simon in straight sets in the other quarter-final.

Bopanna-jeevan was broken twice in the first set and once in the second as they lost 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 10 minutes.

However, Bhambri and Sharan maintained India’s good record in the competition as they ousted a strong pair. Lindstedt is a former Grand Slam winner while Skugor reached the semifinals. Both are doubles specialists while Bhambri is more of a singles player.

However, Bhambri-sharan combined well and surprised their opponents in the first set, gaining an upper hand.

Though Lindstedt-skugor fought back superbly to win the second 6-2, it was not enough as the Indian duo came back strongly in the super tiebreaker to take a7-4 lead.

Their opponents won the next couple of points to close the gap to 5-7. But, Bhambri-sharan could not be denied and wrapped things up 10-6.

Playing against a strong combination in which Herbert is a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, Bopanna and Nedunchezhiyan landed in pressure early as they were broken in the first game.

They played some good shots, Nedunchezhiyan especially showing good touch at the net and Bopanna unleashing a couple of rasping returns. But their French opponents proved too strong.