Dubai: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, who need to improve their rankings to earn a direct entry into the London Olympics, stormed into the summit clash of the ATP Dubai Open with a straight sets win on Friday.
The fourth-seeded Indian pair of Bhupathi and Bopanna edged past the giant-killing Austrian pair of Julian Knowle and Alexanderin Peya 7-6 (2) 7-6 (7) in the semi-finals of the USD 1,700,475 hard court event.
Knowle and Peya had shocked the top-seeded pair of Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic in the quarter-finals.
Either Bopanna, ranked 11th, or Bhupathi (15) need to be in the top 10 in the ATP doubles rankings to have a direct entry in the Olympics competition.
A top-10 player has the liberty to choose his partner, irrespective of his ranking.
The unseeded pair of Leander Paes and Tipsarevic has already exited from the tournament after a 4-6 5-7 defeat in the first round against second seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Teacu.
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Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi is a professional tennis player. He is married to Shvetha Jaishankar Bhupathi, an Indian model whom he met at a party.
He turned professional in 1995, and in 2001, he was awarded the Padma Shri. He is among the best ...
Rohan Bopanna is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career high ranking was 213th in 2007. Recently, most of his appearances in professional tournaments has been in doubles matches. He is a member of the Indian Davis Cup team si ...
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