Rohan Bopanna, Andre Begemann shock top seeds in Citi Open

Washington: Rohan Bopanna and his new German partner Andre Begemann knocked out the top seeded pair of Alexendra Peya and Bruno Soares to storm into the quarter-finals of the ATP Citi Open.

Bopanna, playing with his eighth partner of the season, shocked the top seeds 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-5 in the opening round of the USD 1,295,790 hard court event. They next face Treat Huey of Philippines and Briton Dominic Inglot in the quarter-finals.

Riding on two breaks, the unseeded Bopanna and Begemann easily pocketed the first set but their rivals fought back in the second. Peya and Soares saved all the seven break chances they faced in the second set and succeeded in stretching the match to the tie-breaker.

However, Bopanna and Begemann regrouped and prevailed in the match tie-breaker. They won 77 points to the 58 by their rivals.