Rohan Bopanna/ Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi clinch the Men’s Doubles title – Gerry Weber Open 2011
The Indo Pak Express of India’s Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi triumphed over Dutch Canadian duo of Robin Haase and Milos Raonic in a three set thriller on Sunday. They registered a 7-6(8), 3-6, 11-9 victory over the unseeded pair to win their second ATP title at Gerry Weber Open 2011, a warm up of Wimbledon.
Top seeds, Qureshi and Bopanna, took one hour and twenty minutes to down the first time paired, Haase and Raonic, and improve their winning record to 2-7 in the final. This was their second title as a team together and their biggest aim is to win a maiden Grand Slam title now.
The Indo Pak team showed nerves of steel and soul of platinum in the opening set as they plucked their entire serves convincingly. However, they failed to convert all three breakpoint opportunities to their advantage and took the set to a tie-breaker. Qureshi and Bopanna prevailed in it and netted crucial points to clinch the opener with a 7-6(8) win. They also registered a spectacular 92 percent on their slightly lower first serve share.
The in-form Raonic and Haase raised the bar of their game in the second set as they smoothly kept their entire serves by saving the only breakpoint faced. They also managed to convert the only breakpoint opportunity they founded to their advantage to seal the equaliser by winning six games to three. To spice the set further, they earned an amazing 93 percent win on their first serve share.
Both duos played their best tennis in the super tie-breaker and produced a similar first serve share of 70 percent and registered an impressive 86 percent win on it. Qureshi and Bopanna were trailing 1-5 in the start but they made an epic come back and won the decider with an 11-9 score line.
"Aisam and I are loving playing on the grass; it’s our favourite surface," said Bopanna. "So getting a title here is fantastic for us. We’ve been coming to Halle for many years now so it’s a really happy moment for us getting this title."
Ranked 6th in the ATP World Tour doubles rankings, the Indian Pakistan tandem has been in a better form this season as they made a semi-final berth at Sydney and Monte Carlo. They entered here after a quarter-final showing at Roland Garros, a Grand Slam event held in France, and were the highest ranked here.
"I’m really happy that we won our last two matches in a Match Tie-break; it’s going to make us mentally tougher and believe in ourselves even more," said the beaming Qureshi after the match. "We’re just looking forward to the rest of the year; our goal is to win a Grand Slam title and to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, and this is one step forward."
The Indo Pak Express’s confidence is boosted to its max after this victory as they fight for their first Grand Slam win at Wimbledon next week.
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