Continuing from yesterday.... Here go some of clips I wished to post yesterday..

Mumbai Mirror had answered the question yesterday itself...

JOSEPH KORAITH (Mumbai Mirror)

Whoom shall we root Today...

ANYONE who tells you that life is simple is just not looking in the right direction. The situation that has sprung up at the Mumbai Open has kicked simplicity right out of the window. The reference is not to a convoluted mathematical formula used to decide a match.
The complexity, instead, stems from the confusion about the simple issue on whom to support in a semifinal doubles match which will played on centre court today. Before you ridicule and rubbish, let me elaborate.
The reference is to the doubles match involving Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and the problem is that they are on opposite sides of the court. Paes is partnering Aisam Qureshi and Bhupathi is partnering Mario Ancic.
You can play safe by supporting Bhupathi and Ancic, them being the top seeds but that would mean that you would be putting your money against Leander. Now that is not a very wise thing. His combination with Aisam has proved lethal so far.
The women (we're not sexist, this is not a generalisation) could decide to cheer for the team with one Indian guy and one cute guy. But sadly both teams are perfectly matched on this front too. Both the cute ones, Ancic and Qureshi, have an equal share of fan following. Back to square one it is.
It would just be simpler if the Indian pair ended up on the same side of the court. In the other doubles semifinal it's not the matter of choiGe that is pertinent but the crowd will nevertheless be a bundle of nerves because Rohan Bopanna/Mustafa Qureshi will face fourth seeds James AucklandlJarnie Delgado.
For Bopanna/Mustafa to win and be in the finals would be 'just what the doctor ordered' for the Indian crowd. We are in for an epic battle in both of today's doubles encounters. As for the Lee-Hesh encounter, pick your team and scream yourself hoarse for them but don't be surprised if the other team wins.
But then again, to use the bruised and battered maxim, 'it's a win. win situation' for us Indians.

Kingfisher Open: Bhupathi scores over Paes

NAOSHIRVAN VAKIL- TIMES NEWS NETWORK

MUMBAI: It was a tame end to a fantastic match. Mahesh Bhupathi and Mario
Ancic, the No. 3 seeds, played their hearts out to score a gutwrenching 6-1 5-7
10-3 win over Leander Paes and Aisam Qureshi in the doubles quarterfinal of the
Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open.
A packed CCI gallery shouted themselves
hoarse in support of Leander Paes. The Indo-Pak duo did not disappoint them as
they came alive in the second with stunning volleys. Leander also managed to get
the best of Qureshi who struck scintillating returns.
The new doubles rules
also came into effect on Saturday and four games in the second were decided on
the deciding point after deuce and it was Paes who got the winning shot, at 6-5
with a stirring backhand volley.
A Super tiebreak ensued and Bhupathi-Ancic
took their game to a different level. Paes had a chance on the very first point
but he smashed a volley long. Ancic struck terrific returns and big serves in
the breaker. Bhupathi was rock-solid at the net producing sparkling volleys at
the net. He finished off the match with a trademark backhand volley.
Ancic
was the only player of the four who did not drop his serve in the match. He
served big and had Paes-Qureshi groping.
In the first set it looked like
Bhupathi and Ancic had a plane to catch. Bhupathi was fantastic , hitting
volleys and superb returns.
You can never count out Paes. He wears his heart
on his sleeve and once the adrenaline is flowing there is no stopping him. The
momentum had swung their way and it looked like there would be a thrilling
finish to the match. However , it was not to be as Ancic-Bhupathi were the
heroes in the Super tiebreak.
"They played a brilliant match. Don't forget
we were playing against a top 10 player in Mario Ancic. We did well to come back
in the second set. Their experience paid off in the end," said Paes. Bhupathi
and Ancic are now directly into the final on Sunday as they have a walkover in
the semifinal.
Dennis Gremelmayr and Simon Gruel were forced to concede the
match. Gremelmayr suffered a hip injury during the quarterfinal.


Bhupathi-Ancic in doubles final

Deepti Patwardhan in Mumbai, October 01, 2006 00:53 IST

The atmosphere was worthy of a final. The match too was as good as one,
as the sheer class of Mario Ancic and Mahesh Bhupathi closed the deal in a Super
tie-break third set to progress to the final of the Kingfisher Airlines ATP
Mumbai Open doubles on Saturday.
Leander Paes and Aisam Qureshi recovered
from a set down but finally lost 1-6, 7-5, 3-10 to the third seeded pair of
Bhupathi-Ancic in the quarter-finals.
The victory catapulted Bhupathi and
Ancic to the final as their semi-final opponents, Denis Gremelmayr and Simon
Gruel of Germany, withdrew from the event because of a hip injury sustained by
the former.
Earlier, Russia's Dmitry Tursunov beat top seed Tommy Robredo of
Spain 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 to enter the final of the men's singles. The fourth seed
will meet third seed Tomas Berdych for the title. The Czech defeated unseeded
Austrian Stefan Koubek 7-6, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
"It was a fantastic
match. In the end Mahesh and Mario were too good for us," said Paes later. "I
would also like to congratulate Aisam on the performance. It was our first
tournament together; he took a lot of my shots today and made me look
good."
The match got off to a tame start as Paes was sluggish at the net and
Qureshi's serve didn't have the same zing with two quality players at the
receiving end. Two great returns from Bhupathi saw the Indo-Croat pair earn a
break in the very first game.
With both Qureshi and Paes rushing to the net,
their opponents had an easy chance to pass them. Bhupathi-Ancic's big serves
also proved difficult to return, with their opponents finding the net more
often.
A double-fault from Paes in the seventh game won the set for the third
seeds, who were looking too good for the Indo-Pak pair.
But cheered on by a
vociferous crowd and the Pakistani finding rhythm on his backhand, Paes and
Qureshi held their ground firmly. None of the players had easy service games,
and the unforced errors scratched out, it elevated into a great doubles contest.
There were the delectable reflex volleys at the net and the acute angles for
winners. Paes's drop volleys had more purpose and the Indo-Pak's aggressive
style pushed their rivals on the back foot.
They broke into the lead with
Paes's service winner in the seventh game. The duo was done in by a bad call for
fault with Qureshi serving for the set at 5-4, deuce. The deciding point was
against them but Qureshi-Paes fought to get a break back. Paes was again drawn
to deuce in the 12th game but Ancic put the ball long to give them the second
set 7-5.
The Super tie-break, which was the third set, turned out be
anti-climax as Bhupathi-Ancic raced to an 8-1 lead and went on to take the match
at 10-3.
"This week even though I was playing I was more happy to see the
stands full. Having put in so much effort for the last 7-8 months, it really
paid off," said Bhupathi.
The third seeds will meet the winners of the match
between Rohan Bopanna-Mustafa Ghouse and Great Britain's James Auckland and
Jamie Delgado on Sunday.