London: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna defeated Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 6-3, 5-7, 10/5 on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the ATP Tour Finals.
The Indian fifth seeds had suffered a disappointing start to their campaign at London’s O2 Arena when they were beaten 6-4, 6-7 (1/7) 12/10 by reigning Wimbledon doubles champions Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen on Tuesday.
But Bhupathi and Bopanna had arrived in London in a rich vein of form after winning the Paris Masters doubles crown last week and they got back on track with victory over fourth seeded Lindstedt and Tecau in one hour and 22 minutes.
They took the first set in emphatic fashion and, although Sweden’s Lindstedt and Romania’s Tecau hit back in the second, it was Bhupathi and Bopanna who dominated the super tie-break.
The Indian pair, seeded fifth, were making their first appearance together at the season-ending event, although Bhupathi had qualified on 11 previous occasions with three different partners.
To have any chance of reaching the last four they will have to defeat second seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in their last Group B match.
