Chennai: Third seeded Indo-Serbian pair of Leander Paes and Janko Tipsarevic came back from the brink of defeat to set up a title face off with the Israeli combine of Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich in the doubles event of the Aircel Chennai Open 2012.
In the semifinal, Paes and Tipsarevic were starring at defeat down 0-5 in the Match Tie-Breaker but clawed their way back into the game before winning it 10-7 and the match. They defeated second seeds and all-American pair of Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram 6-2, 6-7 (7-1), 10-7.
Earlier, in the other semifinal, fourth seeded pair of Ram and Erlich sent the top seeded Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashing out of the tournament with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 upset win.
Paes said he wished it had been easier, but added, “One thing we share is the work ethic. To come back from 0-5 down just shows a lot of heart. I love it how Janko puts it on the line every time he’s on court.”
Tipsarevic, who was playing his second match of the day after winning his singles semifinal against Go Soeda of Japan, said, "I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. I played a tough match today. I am really happy.”
After the ouster of Bhupathi and Bopanna, it looked as if the doubles final would be void of Indians with Paes and Tipsarevic 0-5 down in the match tie-breaker.
However, the Indo-Serbian pair bounced back on the back of some superlative netplay by Paes and strong returns from Tipsarevic to which their opponents had no answer. They wrapped up the match when, with Paes and Tipsarevic on 9-7, Ram and Lipsky let a Tipsarevic screamer from the baseline go past between them.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, January 08, 2012, 08:46