Paris: The Indo-Pak duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi advanced to the semifinals of the Paris Masters after overcoming a stiff challenge from No 2 seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic on Friday. Bopanna-Qureshi prevailed over the French-Serbian pair 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 in one and half hours in a closely fought contest.
The 7th seeds, who made it to their first ATP Tour Finals this year, struggled in the first set against their higher rated opponents. Llodra and Zimonjic lived up to their status of being the favourites by pocketing the set 6-3 in 31 minutes.
However, Bopanna and Qureshi, who have been sensational on the Tour since 2010, year in which they reached the US Open final, showed a lot of spirit to bounce back in the second set, which they won 6-4 in 38 minutes. With one set a piece, the match was to be decided by the match tie-break in the super tie-break.
The win over the No 2 seeded pair would give a major boost to the duo ahead of their maiden ATP Tour Finals appearance in London from November 20.
Bopanna and Qureshi will now face the third seeded pair of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor on Saturday. Mirnyi and Nestor defeated Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya in the other quarter final match.
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