The ever-improving Divij Sharan and Purav Raja livened up the Chennai Open for home fans by storming into the doubles final as they scalped the second seeded Argentines Guillermo Duran and Andres Molteni, here on Friday.
Unseeded Sharan and Raja were in complete control of their semifinal, save two breaks they suffered in second set, in a 6-4, 6-2 win in the quarterfinal lasting 63 minutes.
It will be the third ATP level final together for Sharan and Raja, having won titles in Bogota (2013) and los Kabos (2016). Raja has played a final with Fabrice Martin in Zagreb where they ended runners-up in 2015. When India's challenge has already ended in the singles, and veteran star leander Paes has also exited, the Sharan-Raja pair has kept the home fans interested in the tournament.
It can get even better if Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan win their semifinal on Saturday to set up an all-Indian final.
They play fourth seeds Nicholas Monroe from the USA and Artem Sitak from New Zealand.
Paes was impressed with their 'I-formation' style of play and they said it was giving them excellent results. "It really helps playing the I-formation. It keeps the players guessing which way the ball will move. It has worked for us," Sharan, who hails from Delhi, said.
Medvedev reaches S/F
Daniil Medvedev earned his maiden entry into the singles semifinals of an ATP World Tour event when he ended the dream run of Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik with a commanding win in the Chennai Open quarterfinals, here on Friday.
Russia's Medvedev quelled a late resistance from Kovalik for a 6-4 6-1 win that came in one hour and 28 minutes.