Bopanna and Mergea rallied from a set down to beat the Colombian pair 6-7 (3), 6-4, 10-5 in a second round match that lasted an hour and 33 minutes.
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And make no mistake: Isner’s serve is a formidable weapon, generally the one that fellow players cite as the best in the game.
The world tennis number two Roger Federer has been eliminated from the Paris Masters after falling to a third round loss against big serving American John Isner. The Scot broke back immediately and in game eight he converted a fourth break point to set up a 7-6 3-6 6-3 win. That gave him a chance to serve out the match, but from 40-15 his composure deserted him. Berdych earned set points in the 12th game of the first set but the Serb quickly wiggled out of that scenario by executing a ideal one-two combo to put away a forehand victor.
The Swiss legend agreed that Isner had served superbly on the big points.
“That atmosphere, with the Davis Cup coming up, is a very positive thing for me to go through that physically and emotionally”, Murray said. Five times previously Murray had fallen in the quarters of the ATP’s regular season finale and he will now play either John Isner or David Ferrer for a place in final.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion saved all six break points he faced and fought back from 6-2 down in the third set tiebreaker, before Isner sent over a service victor to end the match in more than two hours. He will next face Tomas Berdych who reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, also on Friday.
The world number 20 narrowly lost a marathon, 80-minute first set but she hit back to win 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-3 and reach the last four in the inaugural tournament in Zhuhai.
In a high-quality match, Murray edged the first set in a tie-break but made little impact on the Gasquet serve in the second, the Frenchman taking it thanks to one break.
Andy Murray had a far easier match on the way to the last eight after routing David Goffin 6-1, 6-0 in a prelude to the Davis Cup final later this month.
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Federer called a trainer to tend him at the beginning of the second set, admitting later that he’s feeling a few pain in his arm, but refused to cite it as an excuse.
