India’s Yuki Bhambri and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig earned $45,750 after exiting the men’s doubles event at the Qatar Open. They lost to Great Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash in the semi-final of the tournament on Friday, February 21. It took Cash and Glasspool an hour and 27 minutes to beat Bhambri and Dodig 7-6(3), 6-3 on Centre Court.
Had Bhambri and Dodig made their way through to the grand finale, they would have earned $90,410. The winners of the men’s doubles title would earn $169,540. The teams getting knocked out in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals earned $11,840 and $22,880, respectively.
Glasspool and Cash will lock horns with the duo of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in the grand finale on Saturday, February 22.
Yuki Bhambri, Ivan Dodig go down fighting in Qatar Open
Bhambri and Dodig began their campaign after beating Daniel Merida Aguilar and Mubarak Al-Harrasi 6-3, 6-4. In the quarterfinal, they got the better of top seeds Mate Pavic and Marcelo Aravelo, winning the match 2-6, 6-3, 10-8. But they fell short against Cash and Glasspool.
The first set was a closely fought affair as it went right down to the tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker, the British pair took an early 3-0 lead after which they didn’t look back. Bhambri and Dodig would be gutted for missing out on converting the two break-point chances they got.
In the second set, Cash and Glasspool earned an early break of serve to go 2-0 up, after which they romped home to victory. Yet again, Dodig and Bhambri failed to take advantage of the three break-point chances they had in the second set, leading to their downfall.
Among other Indians in doubles, Rohan Bopanna failed to advance beyond the quarters. He and his partner Nuno Borges also lost to the same pair of Cash and Glasspool, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-10.