Bopanna falls again to Qureshi

Even though top seed Rohan Bopanna ended up on the losing side, it would not be right to call Aisam Qureshi’s victory in the final of the ITF Futures tournament an ‘upset’.

Even though top seed Rohan Bopanna ended up on the losing side, it would not be right to call Aisam Qureshi’s victory in the final of the ITF Futures tournament an ‘upset’. Bopanna has not defeated him in any of their previous meetings, and today’s match made his record against Qureshi 0-4.

The Coorgi began the match on a strong note, and took advantage of Qureshi’s double faults to notch up three break points just minutes into the match. The Pakistani managed to save all of them, but could do nothing two games later as a backhand error gave Bopanna a 3-1 lead.

The serves kept whizzing off his racket, and there was no hint that Bopanna’s game would fall apart later, after he claimed the first set 6-2 with a blazing backhand winner.

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The percentage of the top seed’s first serves stayed low in the next two sets, and this proved to be his undoing. Instead of the powerful groundstrokes and bullet returns, it was wayward forehands that littered the court. Qureshi attacked every second serve and soon enough, the going looked tough for Bopanna as the match went into the third set.

The fourth seed had found his rhythm after brushing aside some knee trouble, and he was not willing to let the title slip out of his grasp. Perhaps fittingly enough, a resigned backhand into the net from the 28st-ranked Indian presented Qureshi with the match, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

This earned Bopanna his second runner-up tag of the tournament, as he had lost the doubles final the previous day to Alexey Kedriouk of Kazakhstan and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, partnering Mustafa Ghouse.

Speaking after the match, Qureshi revealed he believed he could win this clash because of his record against the top seed.

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“In the first set, I did not serve well — my first serves were not going in, and Rohan took advantage of that. But I think I played a good game in the second set when I broke his serve. I haven’t lost to him yet, and even when a set’s deficit did not throw me into a panic. I knew I could beat him again. Perhaps the same thing weighed on his mind and so he wasn’t able to come back once I got my nose in front,” he said, speaking after the match.