World Tour Finals: Bopanna-Mergea lose to Fognini-Bolleli

Indo-Romanian pair place second in group after first defeat

Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea finished second in Ashe/Smith Group after losing to the Italian pair of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolleli in their last group match in the ATP World Tour Finals , at the O2 Arena, in London, on Thursday.

Having already clinched a berth in the semi-finals, the eight seeded Indo-Romanian pair rallied splendidly after losing the first set but failed to reproduce the same form in the Super Tie-break and lost 4-6, 6-1, 5-10.

They trailed the fifth seeded Italians 0-3 in the Super Tie-breaker and never regained the momentum of the previous set.

The victory gave Fognini-Bolleli their third straight victory in the tournament and the top spot in the group.

Ironically, Bopanna and Mergea won 56 points, six more than their opponents, but finished on the losing side.

Bopanna and Mergea got the better of the fourth-ranked pair of Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Australia's John Peers 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) on Tuesday to seal a semi-finals berth.

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