India's Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea reached the semifinals of the Apia International with a straight sets win over Samuel Groth and John Peers, here today.
The fourth seeds got the better of the Australian team 6-2 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the USD 461,330 hard court tournament in run up to the Australian Open.
Bopanna is defending
champion at this event. He had won
the trophy last year with Canadian partner Daniel Nestor.
They will now fight it out with Thomaz Bellucci and Leonardo Mayer
For a place in the final.
(REOPENS DEL 34)
In the most recent matches they have played together, Bopanna and Paes lost the doubles rubber against Czech Republic but made a remarkable recovery from being down two sets to win against Serbia.
Paes arrived in Chandigarh yesterday and they practiced for about an hour and a half but rain prevented them from training together even as Paes had a hit on hard courts.
On being asked if they have a realistic chance of reaching the medal round in Rio, Bopanna said getting a good draw will be crucial.
"When we go into a tournament, I am not just looking at winning a bronze medal. Either I am going all the way to top or not go at all. The goal is to do the best we can. We have to take one match at a time. The competition is very high. We are hoping to be seeded. Also we need a little luck in the draw. That's part of whole thing."
Talking about the tie starting tomorrow, Bopanna said the grass is the best choice for India.
"We all discussed as a team and chose grass because it is an advantage. Looking at the fact that their number one player's favourite surface is hard courts, we decided grass is the right surface for us.
"That's why you have advantage of playing Davis Cup at home. The tie was right after Wimbledon. Ramkumar and Saketh have played on grass for a month coming into this tie. Grass clearly is the best surface for us," he asserted.
However, Bopanna said it will be some task for the Indians in the tie.
"We might be favourites in rankings. But I have proved it myself wrong by beating higher-ranked players in Davis Cup. Rankings go out of the window in Davis Cup. You have to play best tennis. There is a lot of pressure, you are playing for the country, a lot of expectations are there.
"The Koreans are here for last 10 days, they are going to be a tough team. We have played them numerous times. I know we have to play our best to beat them.
