Indian tennis pair Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan won the doubles title at the Adelaide International ATP 250 after they defeated top-seeded Marcelo Melo of Brazil and Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-6(6), 6-1 in the final on Sunday.
Spectacular Debut for the Indian Duo
The unseeded pair finished their first-ever tournament playing together as the competition’s winners. This was Bopanna’s 20th ATP Tour title, whereas it was Ramanathan’s maiden success.
Road to Victory
The pair had a relatively easy outing in the first round with straight-set wins against Fernando Romboli and James Cerretani. Their most competitive match was the Round of 16 clash against Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow that went into a super tie-breaker which the Indians won in the end with a 6(4)-7(7), 7(7)-6(3), 10-4 scoreline.
Quarter-final wins against Benjamin Bonzi and Hugo Nys and semi-final victory over 4th seeded Santiago Gonzalez and Tomislav Brkic were both straight-set, comfortable victories resulting in the duo reaching the finals in their debut campaign.
Bopanna and Ramanathan did not lose a single game in serve and conceded one set in the 5 matches they played.
Partnership by Chance
Rohan Bopanna had initially partnered with France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin for the Adelaide Tour. But Roger-Vasselin withdrew from the event to get picked for the ATP Cup.
The 41-year-old received the message aboard his Melbourne flight from Dubai. Fortunately, Ramanathan was headed for the Australian Open qualifiers on the same flight.
“I requested him if he wanted to come to Adelaide and play a week of doubles. I think it worked out well. Couldn’t have asked for a better week for both of us,” Bopanna said after their triumph.
Both the players had only played one match together going into the tournament in a Davis Cup tie against Finland last year, which they lost. The pair won $18,700 as prize money and earned 250 ranking points each.
Rohan Bopanna praises his newly found partner
When asked how different it was playing with Ramanathan compared to Divij Sharan, his former compatriot, Bopanna said,
“With Divij, we had to create a point, ensure that first volley opportunity is taken while with Ram, the point can be finished early.”
“When Ramkumar is serving by your side, you can finish the point early, so that was an advantage.”
Title Win Significant for Ramkumar Ramanathan
The Adelaide ATP 250 is a warm-up for the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open. This title triumph will give a huge boost to Ramanathan’s confidence, as he will be part of the singles qualifiers, which starts on Monday, 10th January.
Ramkumar will be aiming to make his first singles main draw in the Australian Open beginning from 17th January.
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