After Somdev Devvarman shocked the defending champion in the Citi Open, it was the turn of Rohan Bopanna and his new German partner Andre Begemann to knock out the top seeds to enter into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Rohan Bopanna and his new German partner Andre Begemann knocked out the top seeded pair of Alexendra Peya and Bruno Soares to storm into the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 Citi Open, here.u00a0
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Bopanna, playing with his eighth partner of the season, shocked the top seeds 6-2 6-7(4) 10-5 in the opening round of the USD 1,295,790 hard court event.
They next face Treat Huey of Philippines and Briton Dominic Inglot in the quarter-finals.
Riding on two breaks, the unseeded Bopanna and Begemann easily pocketed the first set but their rivals fought back in the second.
Peya and Soares saved all the seven break chances they faced in the second set and succeeded in stretching the match to the tie-breaker.
However, Bopanna and Begemann regrouped and prevailed in the match tie-breaker. They won 77 points to the 58 by their rivals.
Somdev loses 'friendly' encounter to Isner
Indian tennis star Somdev Devvarman bowed out of the ATP Washington Open after going down in straight sets to eighth seeded American John Isner in the third round here.
The unseeded Indian lost 5-7 5-7 to his "good friend" in what was their first encounter on the circuit.
Faced with an opponent ranked more than 100 places above him in the ATP list, Somdev fought well in the opening set, saving as many as six break points. But he could never really pile the pressure on Isner, who, in the end, managed to get the crucial break while holding his own serve to pocket the set.
Isner, in fact, did not concede a single break point in the entire match.
The local favourite increased his dominance in the second set, sending down nine aces in the process. Once again, Isner managed to break Somdev once out of the three chances he earned to seal the issue.
He will next face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinal.u00a0