Thaindian News

Montreal, Aug 16 (IANS) India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles dethroned reigning champions Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic, beating the second seeds in the match tie-break to enter the final of the $3-million Rogers Cup here.
The Indo-Bahamian pair, third seeds, not only stopped Nestor and Zimonojic from defending the title they won last year in Toronto, but also ousted them from the World No 1 ranking they enjoyed for a week, by beating them 5-7, 6-2, 10-4, Saturday.

Bhupathi, who is looking for his fifth Canadian title, and Knowles next take on seventh-seeded Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Israeli Andy Ram, who knocked out top-seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Ironically, Bhupathi and Zimonojic were doubles partners, though not for long, while Knowles and Nestor were a dominant force on the Tour for a number of years.

There was no hint of the eventual capitulation by Nestor and Zimonjic when they broke the service to close out the set in a match of one hour 25 minutes.

Things quickly turned around in the second set as Bhupathi and Knowles broke their opponents’ service twice to run away with the second set.

Bhupathi and Knowles breezed through the tie-break leaving Nestor and Zimonjic dazed.

The key to the match was that Knowles and Zimonjic could only land 53 percent of their first serves in — certainly not enough to keep them going in a high-profile Masters 1000 event.

Nestor and Zimonjic will slip to the No. 2 spot from No.1 in the world when the new rankings are announced Monday, while the Bryan Brothers are back at the top despite their defeat here.

Nestor, who has a troublesome sore left elbow, said he should be fine for the U.S. Open later this month.

The left-hander from Toronto was forced to retire from a tournament in Washington last week due to the elbow pain. An MRI showed no damage, but he managed to play in the Rogers Cup.

“It’s good, much better than I thought it would be,” the 35-year-old said. “A week ago, I thought I’d need surgery.

“It’s disappointing,” Nestor said of losing at his home tournament. “But you can’t be greedy.

“Look at (Rafael) Nadal. He’s not in match shape (and he lost in the quarter-finals). If you’re not match tough, chances are you’re not going to win the tournament.”

Nestor and Zimonjic have won six tournaments this year, including a second straight Wimbledon title.

The loss ended their string of victories in the Masters Series at three.