Bopanna & Qureshi crash out of ATP Finals

LONDON: The Indo-Pak Express' maiden run in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals ended on a disastrous note on Thursday. The world no. 5 combine of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi, shoulders slumped and feet dragging, were bounced out of the championship 2-6, 1-6 by Poland's Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in less time than it took to spell their opponent's names.
To say that Bopanna and Qureshi were outplayed would be putting it mildly.The Indo-Pak pairing were broken in the third game of the 49-minute encounter when a Fyrstenberg down-the-middle forehand broke Bopanna's serve. They, however, had a chance to break back in the very next game on Fyrstenberg's serve with the Polish pair serving at 15-40.
Bopanna and Qureshi failed to nail the break, after which they only won two of the next eleven games. "It wasn't the best way to end the year. It was easily the worst match we have played this season," Bopanna said, "We had two good matches in the league stages, but couldn't pull off a win, today we were just flat. Had we converted those break-point opportunities in the fourth game it may have helped us turn things around."
Interestingly, there won't be an Indo-Pak Express on the ATP Tour next year as Bopanna will team up with countryman Mahesh Bhupathi while Qureshi will play with the 30-year-old Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojers.
Qureshi, meanwhile, said, "Next year being the Olympic year, Rohan wanted to play with Mahesh. I totally understand that. They have a chance to do well at the Olympics. I wish him all the best and I'll be cheering for him. He's still the best friend I have on the Tour, that won't change just because we'll be playing with different partners next year. He'll have my support and I'll always want him to win except when he's playing against me."
The coming together of the Indo-Pak Express also saw the twosome initiate a peace campaign in the region which won the duo accolades and appreciation the world over. "We'll continue to be ambassadors of peace," Bopanna said, "if it can't be done through our partnership next year then it'll be done through our friendship. Like Aisam said, "we're still friends and we want the best for each other."
Both players didn't rule out the possibility of reuniting on the Tour in 2013.