In spite of a shaky start in the first set, the fourth seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza quelled the challenge of Wimbledon singles champion Andy Murray and his partner Heather Watson (Wimbledon mixed doubles champion) of Great Britain.
Both Rohan and Sania looked like they were under tremendous pressure at the beginning of the match, especially with Rohan losing his serve in the second game of the match. But a break back on the Heather Watson serve in the third game, and a hold by Sania restored parity.
There was no looking back for the Indian pair after that as they gained one more break and with Rohan serving at 5-4, wrapped up the set. In fact, the only time they looked jittery was in that tenth game. However, Rohan’s powerful serve saw them through.
In the second set, it was the Andy Murray serve that got broken at 2-2 and that ended the fight for the British team. There was another chance for the Indians, when they were up 0-30 on Heather’s serve at 2-4, but she managed to hold on.
The team from Britain did manage to save a couple of match points at 5-4, on Rohan’s serve, but the Indians carried far too much momentum by then and an overhead by Rohan on the third match point saw the Indians breeze through into the semis with a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 win.
For me, the match was all about Sania’s forehand and Rohan’s serve. Without a doubt, Sania unleashes the most powerful forehand in women’s tennis, and on Friday she was on song with that forehand cross-court. She gave Andy Murray no chance to cross and intimidate her. On the other hand, it was Rohan who found his rhythm on the serve –serving aces at will. His big serve made life very easy for the pair.
In all fairness, Andy Murray was coming off an excruciatingly long singles match and I am sure that at the back of his mind, there must have been the thought that he had to come back in less than 24 hours to take on the talented Japanese Kei Nishikori for a spot in the singles finals.
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