India blank Japan, gear up for Chinese Taipei

The catcalls were irritating; the crowd at times thwarted intense rallies with cheers that simply put off the players 8212; tennis and etiquette here don't seem to go hand in hand.

The catcalls were irritating; the crowd at times thwarted intense rallies with cheers that simply put off the players 8212; tennis and etiquette here don8217;t seem to go hand in hand. For Hopman Cup tournament director Paul McNamee, who arrived in the city from Perth, it was something he had never seen.

8220;It8217;s amazing how Sania Mirza is patient with all these distractions,8221; observed McNamee after India and Chinese Taipei closed out their group campaigns with an all-win record, which includes not dropping a set.

In Group A, the Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna duo had exactly two-minutes separating their individual on-court efforts against Japan8217;s Tomoko Yonemura and Yuichi Sugita. Sania broke the Japanese in the opening game before she lost focus. She missed chances to break before managing that in the 11th.

Tomoko was no match in the second set. Sania dished out her best to go 4-1 up with a break in the third game.

She lost an unforced error-ridden sixth before restoring her three-game advantage in the next. The victory followed without much ado.

Bopanna8217;s inability to convert break points against Yuichi Sugita worried him in the first set which was decided in the tie-breaker. Bopanna depended on his serves but during the rallies Yuichi more often than not read the game. Six break points went abegging in the first set 8212; two each in the 7th and 11th.

In the second set, Bopanna was walking tall.

On the outside court, Chinese Taipei8217;s I-Hsuan Hwang and Ti Chen put out Thailand8217;s Nudnida Luangnam and Weerapat Doakmaiklee. I-Hsuan is expected to be Sania8217;s major threat, while Bopanna goes in to the game having beaten Ti Chen in their earlier meeting.

RESULTS

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GroupA: India b Japan 3-0 Sania Mirza b Tomoko Yonemura 7-5, 6-2; Rohan Bopanna b Yuichi Sugita 7-6 2, 6-2; Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna b Tomoko Yonemura and Yuichi Sugita 6-0, 6-1

GroupB: I-Hsuan Hwang b Nudnida Luangnam 6-2, 6-1; Ti Chen b Weeparat Doakmaiklee 6-1, 6-4; I-Hsuan Hwang and Ti Chen b Nudnida Luangnam and Weeparat Doakmaiklee w/o