London: Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea are well prepared for their doubles semi-finals of the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday.
Bopanna and Mergea had qualified for the semi-finals as champions of the Arthur Ashe/Stan Smith group following two successive wins, the first against the world No. 1s Mike and Bob Bryan and the second against Jamie Murray and John Peers.
Playing in their third and last inconsequential round-robin match was no easy task as the Italian pair of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli scampered through 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (5) on Thursday.
“It’s always tough to play against a team that has nothing to lose. They went for their shots and swung at everything that came their way, and somehow things simply worked for them,” Bopanna said.
“I think tennis is much easier to play when there is no pressure,” he added.
The defeat made no difference to their standing, even as the Bryan brothers were scheduled to play Murray and Peers later last night to decide the second pair from the group.
“We look forward to our semi-finals on Saturday. There are a lot of scenarios for the second group, and we will eventually know who we are going to play. The best eight pairs are here and we are ready for anything that comes our way,” Mergea said.
