London: India’s Rohan Bopanna and Romania’s Florin Mergea handed down a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to the top-ranked doubles pairing of Mike and Bob Bryan on the opening night of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 here late on Sunday.
The two pairs had met on three earlier occasions with the American twins leading 2-1 following wins in Shanghai last year and Washington this year. But the Indo-Romanian duo defeated the Americans in four sets in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon earlier this season.
On Sunday they seemed to carry forward that form as a series of breaks saw the two pairs go neck-and-neck until Bopanna held in the tenth game to take the opening set 6-4.
In the second set, things were more steady as Bopanna and Mergea broke early and led 2-0, never again looking behind as a forehand from the Indian sealed a memorable win.
This is the 14th year on the trot the Bryan twins have qualified for the year-ender. They are the reigning champions who are trying to finish at the top of the doubles world rankings for a record eleventh time in the last 13 years.
On the other hand, though this is the third time for Bopanna, it is Mergea’s debut. They came together as a pair only in April this year, and were the eighth and final pair to qualify following a lop-sided Paris Open doubles final that went in favour of Dodig and Melo.
Sunday night’s win took the Indo-Romanian pair to the top of the Group Ashe/Smith. Jamie Murray and John Peers, who defeated Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, are in second with a 2-1 record.
