Roger Federer bounces back in doubles

Roger Federer bounced back from his dismal singles defeat to sweep into the last four in the Olympic doubles on Friday.

Playing on a sun-kissed court after their match had to be postponed on Thursday due to torrential rain, Federer and fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka scored an impressive 6-2 6-4 victory over India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.

Federer, who loses his world number one ranking next week and was sadly out of form in the Olympic singles against American James Blake on Thursday, revelled in the doubles, firing off winners and duelling fast and furiously in the rallies.

Paes was dazzled by Federer's artistry, telling reporters: "Federer is the best player in the world. Unfortunately we got stuck with him playing unbelievably well. I am still trying to figure out what we could possibly have done."

Bhupathi said: "It's just too bad that we couldn't pull through on what is (India's) Independence Day today."

Sydney gold medallists Serena and Venus Williams were also out to erase memories of their singles defeats on Thursday but were not so impressive in beating Japan's Ayumi Morita and Ai Sugiyama 7-5 6-2.

Venus, whose serve is normally one of her most potent weapons, produced a stream of double faults and Serena will have to be much sharper at the net if they are to advance beyond the quarter-finals.


Courtesy : reuters