The Indian players in the fray at the two ongoing ATP clay tournaments in Houston and Marrakech had contrasting results on Wednesday.
ATP Houston
The Indo-Brazilian team of Leander Paes and Andre Sa lost their opening match to the Bryan Brothers, who are the top-seeds in the doubles draw. The Bryans won in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 in 61 minutes, converting six of the 11 break points on Paes and Sa’s serve. They also saved three of five break points on their serve as well.
The Bryans will face the all-Indian team of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja in the quarter-finals. Sharan and Raja overcame the Indo-American duo of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Donald Young in their first round matchup, 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-6 in an hour and 40 minutes.
Sharan and Raja faced only one break point in the match, in the opening set, before breaking back to take the set into the tie-break. In the second set, the converted their second break in the match to win the set and take the match into the deciding tie-break that they won with relative ease, with a margin of four points.
ATP Marrakech
Third seeds Rohan Bopanna and Marcin Matkowski advanced to the quarter-finals in Marrakech with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner. The Indo-Polish team saved the sole break point on their serve that came about in the first set and converted two of the three break points on their New Zealand-Brazilian opponents, one each in each set.
Bopanna and Matkowski will face the British-Croatian team of Dominic Inglot and Mate Pavic in the last-eight.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!