Michael Llodra & Nenad Zimonjic need to beat Rohana Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi this afternoon if they are to make it to the semi finals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor were the 2010 winners of the ATP World Tour Finals but this year they decided to go their separate ways, with varying degrees of success. Nestor and new partner Max Mirniyi won the French Open title but Zimonjic and Michael Llodra couldn't get beyond the semi finals in any of the Grand Slam events in 2011.
However, they are still the number two men's doubles pairing in the world and they arrived in London expecting to win the World Tour Finals. That hasn't worked out particularly well, with a defeat to Mariusz Fyrstenberg & Marcin Matkowski in the opening match leaving their qualification for the last 16 looking precarious.
It is now imperative that Zimonjic & Llodra win today's clash with Rohana Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi, who lost their opening match to Nestor and Mirniyi, or they will face an early exit from the competition. It is 4/7 at
Paddy Power that the Serb and Frenchman win and they are a good bet at that price.
Bopanna & Qureshi are a good doubles team but they didn't have a particularly great 2011. They reached the semi finals of the US Open but their performances in the other Grand Slam events were disappointing, a first round exit at Wimbledon particularly so.
The fast court in London's O2 Arena will not suit the Indian and Saudi Arabian as much as it will Zimonjic and Llodra and that could be a key factor in today's match. Bopanna & Qureshi are 5/4 to spring an upset but it should be a win for the powerful serve and volley style of Michael Llodra and the experience of Nenad Zimonjic. That would set up a 'must win' match against Nestor and Mirniyi, which could be explosive.
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