Mirnyi, Ram sail into ATP doubles final

London: Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram sailed into the doubles final with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win against Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals being held at the O2 Arena here.

Mirnyi and Ram who had topped Group A followed a better record at the end of the round robin matches, had not much of a problem against a pair that had shown signs of being able to compete against the best here.

The win for the seventh seeds against the Czech-Slovak pair was complete in an hour and 33 minutes of engrossing tennis. And barring for some occasions, the semifinal never saw the pairing of Ram and Mirnyi – who have announced they are going separate ways next season - being stretched.

Ram and Mirnyi will now await the winners of the second semifinal that was to be played later on Saturday between third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles and second seeds Bob and Mike Bryan from the US.

Mirnyi and Ram stuck to a percentage game, not taking too many chances against an opposing pair that is capable of beating the best. They got their first break early and Ram and Mirnyi went on to hold and win the set easily.

The second was more compact as the Czech and Slovak put everything in it to try and break even. But Ram and Mirnyi stuck to their gameplan and then took the tie-break at 7-4 to seal a fine victory and ensure their first final together.

Result: (Doubles semifinal) Max Mirnyi/Andy Ram bt Frantisek Cermak/Michal Mertinak 6-4, 7-6 (4).