They held their nerve to overcome the challenges posed by top-seeded Australians Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith 6-7, 6-3, 10-6.
Follow Us
Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan gave home fans a lot to cheer on Sunday, winning the doubles trophy at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune. The second seeds rallied from a set deficit to maintain an unbeaten record in 2022. They held their nerve to overcome the challenges posed by top-seeded Australians Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith 6-7, 6-3, 10-6. This title was Bopanna and Ramanathan’s second ATP trophy of the year after triumphing at the Adelaide International 1 in January. The pairing now holds an impressive 8-0 match record in 2022. It is Bopanna’s 21st tour-level trophy and his second in Pune. He had also won in 2019 with Divij Sharan.
On Sunday, it was anything but an easy going for the Indian duo. In a hard-fought battle in Pune, Saville and Smith, who are playing their first ATP Tour final as a team, got the better of the local pair to win the first set tiebreak. They had overall performed strongly on serve. The Australians landed 79 per cent of their first serves and won 80 per cent (48/60) of points behind the first delivery.
Bopanna and Ramanathan somehow did find a way to break twice in the second set to level the score. They forced a Match Tie-break that began in a tense manner. It was the Indian pairing that cut loose at 4/4, sealing victory with their fourth match point after a one-hour, 46-minute encounter.
READ MORE: Alexander Zverev – Net worth and endorsements
Meanwhile, Joao Sousa fought impressively in the opening two sets before running away with the final set to seal his first ATP Tour title in four years on Sunday. He defeated Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune. The World No.137 prevailed in an entertaining two-hour, 43 minute encounter on Sunday.
Ruusuvuori, playing in his first ATP Tour final, broke for a 5-3 lead in the first set. However, he struck two double faults to hand Sousa a break back. Then, a hard-fought tie-break was clinched in style by Sousa. With the momentum on his side, Sousa broke early to surge into a 3-0 lead in the second set.Â
The Finn bagged five games in a row from 1-4 down and forced a decider. The third set turned out to be one-way traffic. Sousa halted the Finn’s momentum by breaking early in the third set. He saw out the set with relative ease to seal an emotional first title since Estoril in 2018.
Elsewhere, Alexander Bublik produced a major shock on Sunday, upsetting World No.3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-3 to clinch his maiden ATP Tour title at the Open Sud de France. Bublik, 24, captured the first Top 5 win of his career after 70 minutes in Montpellier.
