PUNE: From Adelaide to Pune, the conditions, the atmosphere and the context - everything was different, except for one constant.
Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan clinched their second ATP title in as many weeks of tournament play by lifting the trophy at the Tata Open Maharashtra here on Sunday. The Indian pair overcame top seeds Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith of Australia 6-7 (10), 6-3, 10-6 in the final of the $494,000 ATP 250 hard-court event at the Mhalunge-Balewadi stadium. Later in the singles final, PortugueseJoao Sousa put it across Finnish youngster Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-1 for his fourth career title and first after a gap of nearly four years.
The doubles title was of significance to both Ramkumar and Bopanna.
It was the second title for the Chennai lad and saw him break into the top-100 in doubles rankings. For Bopanna, it was the 21st of his career and third on home soil - he had won with Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in Chennai in 2017 and with Divij Sharan two years later in Pune. Ramkumar and Bopanna had clinched the title on their Tour debut in Adelaide last month. The Bangalorean, 41, is showing no signs of ageing. "It comes down to experience and years of competing and playing," Bopanna said after the win. "But importantly I am enjoying playing as the body is doing well at this juncture. I did yoga during the pandemic … it has helped tremendously.
"Anytime you are physically fine, it brings out the best in you. I may not be giving my 100 percent in practice, but as long as I am going out there and competing, that is when I give it my best."
After the Aussies took the first set, Bopanna decided it was time to shuffle the deck of cards. He convinced his younger partner to play from the deuce court and the move turned out to be a masterstroke as the ball began to fly from both their racquets and the top seeds struggled to find a response.
