'Polish Power' Beats Bopanna-Qureshi; Receives Help To Qualify For SFs

© Getty ImagesMarcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg reached the 2008 and 2010 semi-finals.

Eighth seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski ended their Group B round robin campaign with a 2-1 record after they beat fifth seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday afternoon in 49 minutes.

Fyrstenberg and Matkowski were then forced to wait more than six hours to learn if they had qualified for the semi-finals for the third time (also 2008 and 2010). The 'Polish Power' finished second in Group B, behind third seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor, who defeated second seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 in the evening session.

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Fyrstenberg and Matkowski dropped just five points on serve in the 25-minute first set, converting two of two break point opportunities in the third and sixth games. Bopanna and Qureshi failed to convert all three of their break point chances - Fyrstenberg recovered from 15/40 at 2-1.

The Poles dominance continued in the second set, as they sailed into a 4-0 lead without dropping a point on serve. They never let Bopanna and Qureshi settle at the net, regularly hitting powerful and angled returns.

Qureshi was broken to 30 in first game, while Bopanna was broken at 0-2, on a sudden death deuce point, when Fyrstenberg cracked a forehand into Bopanna's body. Bopanna was broken for a third time, to 15, in the final game. 'The Indo-Pak Express' won 21 of their 43 service points.

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"When they serve well, at 130 miles per hour plus, it is always tricky, but we played our worst match of the season," said Bopanna. "I was definitely flat."

Fyrstenberg and Matkowski, the US Open finalists (l. to Melzer-Petzschner), also reached the semi-finals in 2008 (l. to Bryans) and 2010 (l. to Bhupathi-Mirnyi) at the year-end championship. They have a 21-27 match record on the season.

Bopanna and Qureshi, known as 'The Indo-Pak Express', finished their matches in Group B with an 0-3 record. They complete the 2011 season with a 38-26 mark, highlighted by lifting three ATP World Tour trophies at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (d. Haase-Raonic), the If Stockholm Open (d. Melo-Soares) and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris (d. Benneteau-Mahut).

"It has been an unbelievable experience, I can't sum it up in words," said Qureshi. "All year long we have tried to be here. It has been our target and to finish in the Top 10 is fantastic. All our family members came from India and Pakistan to support us, so it wasn't an ideal way to play our last match. It was our worst match of the year, but it is a learning process."

Qureshi confirmed afterwards that Bopanna would play with Mahesh Bhupathi in 2012 at the Indians bid to compete at the Olympic Games in London in July. "I respect Rohan's decision to play with Mahesh, with a view to competing at the Olympics," said Qureshi. "I hope I will be there too." Qureshi will play with Jean-Julien Rojer next year.