Rohan Bopanna fights, but Moodie emerges victorious

Suspect line-calls always sound like a lame excuse to offer, though Rohan Bopanna would be excused this one time if he pointed a distressed finger towards the chair.

Suspect line-calls always sound like a lame excuse to offer, though Rohan Bopanna would be excused this one time if he pointed a distressed finger towards the chair. An aggrieved Bopanna, though, produced no alibi after his 6-3, 6-7 5, 4-6 loss to Wesley Moodie, which sent the Indian wild-card out of the first round of the Kingfisher Open Mumbai ATP on Tuesday.

Serving as solid as he has ever been, and sizzling with a slew of backhand passing shots which won him the opening set and sent the crowd into raptures, the Banglorean, ranked 275 in the world, was finally done in by the South African8217;s equally potent serve.

Numerically in this battle of big-servers which lasted two hours, Moodie out-aced Bopanna 19-15, four of which tilted the second-set tie-break in the South African8217;s favour. Wistfully as the contest unfolded, Bopanna was deprived a break-point on a glaring line call when up 2-1, and later hashed a couple of forehand returns 8211; after which neither could dent the other8217;s serve, pushing the second set into a tie-break.

Moodie, currently 73 in the world, then broke his opponent first up in the decider, digging into his deep serve to keep the momentum, sealing the match with another scorching unplayable serve.

8220;He8217;s a dangerous player when he gets his serve going,8217;8217; Moodie said of his opponent. Bopanna, who had made the second round at Chennai earlier this year, was left to reflect on the unforced errors which offered Moodie a narrow opening into the second set. 8220;Once he got his confidence back, the serves were unstoppable,8217;8217; he said.

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Croatian partner Mario Ancic won their first round doubles match of the Mumbai Open on Tuesday in easy fashion, dropping just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 win over the Indian duo of Christopher Marquis and Akash Wagh.

In a stunning result on the day, seasoned Spaniard Carlos Moya was outgunned by Argentinian teenager Juan Martin del Potro, going down 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour. The two traded breaks thrice early in the first set, but Potro8217;s consistent barrage on Moya8217;s backhand, had the former world No 1 searching frantically for answers.

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Playing his first Tour event on hardcourts, the 18-year-old South American giant has taken a towering leap in the rankings moving up from beyond 1000 to being ranked 106 this month. For someone who has idolised Moya through his junior years, it was another massive jump in a breakthrough year.

Today8217;s results:

Singles: Ramon Delgado Par bt David Sanguinetti Ita 6-3, 2-1 ret; Simon Greul Ger bt Yen Hsun Lu Tpe 7-6 4, 6-3; Denis Gremelmayr Ger bt Kristian Pless Den 7-5, 7-5; Stefan Koubek Aut bt Juan Monaco Arg 7-6 5, 6-4; Wesley Moodie Rsa bt Rohan Bopanna Ind 3-6, 7-6 5, 6-4; Juan Martin del Potro Arg bt Carlos Moya Esp 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles: Mario Ancic Cro / Mahesh Bhupathi bt Christopher Marquis/Akash Wagh 6-0, 6-1; Rik De Voest Rsa / Igor Kunitsyn Rus bt Karan Rastogi/ Sanam Singh 6-3, 6-3.