Lu Yen-hsun was looking for his third ATP Tour doubles title at the Chennai Open in India yesterday after the Taiwanese No. 1 and Jonathan Marray of England rallied to down India’s Rurav Raja and Adil Shamasdin of Canada in their semi-final late on Saturday night.
The Taiwanese-English duo fought back from a set down to complete a 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 victory to set up a final against top seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and India’s Leander Paes, who defeated Spanish pairing Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-3 in their semi-final on Friday.
Lu and Marray saved six of seven break-point chances and converted just one of seven, but it was enough the edge the contest in 1 hour, 21 minutes.
Lu is on a quest for his third doubles title after winning in Chennai with Rainer Schuettler of Germany in 2005 and with Danai Udomchoke of Thailand in Bangkok in 2012.
Sheffield native Marray has just one previous title, but it was a Grand Slam — Wimbledon in 2012 with Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen.
Meanwhile, Lu learned yesterday that he has been handed the No. 8 seeding this week in the singles at the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, after top seed David Ferrer of Spain withdrew from the tournament after suffering an injury in the final of the Qatar Open in Doha, in which he beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5.
In the singles, defending champion and top seed Stanislas Wawrinka won the men’s title for a second straight year and for the third time since 2011.
The top-seeded Swiss world No. 4 ended Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene’s giant-killing feats with a 6-3, 6-4 win in 69 minutes.
About 4,000 Indian fans at the Nungambakkam Stadium cheered wildly as the popular Wawrinka, making his seventh appearance in Chennai, outplayed Bedene.
Wawrinka wrapped up the first set in 30 minutes with a break in the sixth game in which he unleashed two lethal backhand down the line shots to leave Bedene stranded.
Bedene, hoping to become the first Slovenian to win an ATP Tour title, gifted a break in the seventh game of the second set when he double-faulted and then let Wawrinka smash an easy forehand winner.
Wawrinka cruised into the final with a straight-sets win over fourth seed David Goffin of Belgium on Saturday, while Bedene made the final with the last match in his seed-slaying run with an three-set victory over third seed Roberto Bautista-Agut.
Moorilla Hobart
AP, HOBART, Australia
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