Aisam-ul-haq Quershi and Rohan Bopanna began their ATP World Tour Finals campaign with a defeat against Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi, albeit after a good fight in a group B match, on Sunday. The fifth seed Indo-Pak pair lost 6-7 (2), 6-4, 9-11 to the third seeded Canadian-Belarus combo in one hour and 41 minutes at London’s O2 arena. Aisam and Bopanna will now have to win the remaining two matches in their group to be in contention for a spot in the semifinals. The Indo-Pak duo even had a set point in the 10th game of the first set but squandered the opportunity. It had, however, been a good comeback as they were down 2-4 at one stage but won three games on the trot to take a mini 5-4 lead.
After they missed out on converting that set point, the experienced pair of Nestor and Mirnyi cashed in on the mistake of their young rivals and nosed ahead by prevailing in the tie-breaker. Aisam and Bopanna came back well in the second set and broke their rivals early, apart from saving three breakpoints, and drew parity in the match. In the Super tie-breaker they were ahead 6-3 but could not hold on to the lead. Qureshi fired an ace when they faced the first match point but could not save the second one. The Indian Express of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will compete in group A. The top two teams in each group will make the semifinals.
Federer defeats Tsonga at ATP Tour Finals: Roger Federer started his bid for a record sixth title at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday. Federer’s triumph here at London’s 02 Arena 12 months ago moved him level with Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl on five titles in the end of season finale and he is determined to successfully defend his crown after a frustrating campaign. The 30-year-old, down to fourth in the world rankings, will finish the year without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002, but he arrived for 2011’s concluding tournament in good form after back to back titles in Basel and Paris.
Although he gave a slightly erratic performance to kick off his 10th successive Tour Finals appearance, he has now won 13 matches in a row and 18 of his past 19 and his rivals among the world’s top eight players will be rightly wary of Federer in this kind of mood. “Jo-Wilfried served well in the second set and it was hard to control the rallies at the baseline,” Federer said. “But I think this is the best I’ve played all year. It helped that I had some good time off before playing great at Basel and Paris.” Federer suffered arguably the most stunning meltdown of his career when he last met Tsonga in London in the Wimbledon quarter-finals earlier this year.
For the first time in a Grand Slam the Swiss star was beaten after holding a two set lead. But he was finally back to his dominant best a week ago in the Paris Masters, which he won by defeating Tsonga in the final for his second victory over the French number one since that loss at the All England Club. Federer, who had former Arsenal star Thierry Henry sitting in his box at courtside, picked up where he left off in Paris and took the first set here in emphatic fashion. Tsonga didn’t help his cause with two woefully mistimed forehands to present Fededer with the first break in the fourth game.
Federer never looked likely to relinquish that advantage and he wrapped up the set with another break after Tsonga double-faulted at 0-30 and then netted a half-volley. Yet Tsonga’s remarkable capacity to switch from subdued to inspired in the blink of an eye reared its head again at the second set. Previously so lacklustre, Tsonga suddenly found his rhythm and broke for a 2-1 lead when Federer’s forehand drifted wide. Federer looked rattled by the improved accuracy and power of Tsonga’s ground-strokes and continued to make careless errors as the Frenchman secured another break before serving out the set. Tsonga was able to save a break point with a booming forehand at 2-3 in the final set, but Federer had a little more momentum now and gradually wrestled control back from his opponent. The decisive moment came when Tsonga served to stay in the match at 4-5. Federer unloaded some blistering ground-strokes to earn three match points and Tsonga couldn’t stem the tide as the Swiss clinched a hard-fought victory. World number two Rafael Nadal will play America’s Mardy Fish, making his Tour Finals debut, in the other Group B match later on Sunday.
