sandstorm dropping a blanket of haze over the desert city. Then, as
the sun came down on a chilly March evening, with harsh winds blowing
across the Aviation Club, a pair of Indians - Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh
Bhupathi - provided the fireworks that lit up the night at the Dubai
Duty Free ATP World Tour tournament. Bopanna and Bhupathi outpaced
their opponents Poles Mariuz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski to
clinch their first title as a team.Bhupathi and Bopanna, the number
four seeds, came through 6-4, 3-6,10-5, taking 70 minutes to stop
their opponents. The winners take home a cheque of $120,850 and 500
points. While the money won't hurt, the points will help Bopanna, who
celebrates his 32nd birthday on Sunday,to break back into the top-10
of the individual rankings when the new order is released on Monday"I
have been in so many finals here, five I think, and this is how I
remember Saturday night. We've always got great support here,"Bhupathi
said.Bhupathi, the veteran pro in the partnership, said they felt a
few jitters at the start of the final. "We did well to recover from
the second set," the 37-year-old said, "the key to the match was
starting
off well in the super tie-break."After playing strongly to clinch the
opening set, the all-Indian pairing slipped a touch when the powerful
Kodava was broken in the second game of the second set. The duo had
chances to break back, but failed to nail their returns, allowing the
match to slip into the super-tie-break in which they produced a near
flawless effort.
If Bhupathi was solid then Bopanna displayed crackling form. Outside
of an overhead he buried into the net in the ninth point, the birthday
boy was at his blazing best. A down-the-middle forehand in which he
split the court to put his team ahead 7-3 was one of the many bombs he
sent across the net in the decider. The shot of the match came on the
pair's first match point when Bopanna cracked the Fyrstenberg serve
with a backhand that whizzed past a clueless Matkowski, who was
stranded at the net.
Bopanna, 6 ft 4 with a sledge-hammer serve, was particularly
appreciative of his senior's partner's contribution in his development
as a player, saying his experience counted especially in big matches
when the situation got tight. "He has 17 years of experience on the
Tour which is really huge," Bopanna said, "I've been part of the Davis
Cup for 10 years now and he has helped me at every stage in my
career,even before we became friends. He always kept in touch. It's a
good opportunity for me to play alongside Mahesh."
Bhupathi said the partnership fed off a friendship in which
communication was easy. "We speak a lot on the court," he said, "We
are not afraid to tell the other when he's not doing the right
thing.We feed off our strengths and we are both aware of our strengths
and weaknesses that makes us dangerous as a team."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: faheem mc <mcfaheem@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2012 10:13:31 +0530
Subject: Bhupathi-Bopanna win Dubai Open title
To: go@blogger.com
DUBAI: It was grey skies in the city for much of Saturday; a mild
sandstorm dropping a blanket of haze over the desert city. Then, as
the sun came down on a chilly March evening, with harsh winds blowing
across the Aviation Club, a pair of Indians - Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh
Bhupathi - provided the fireworks that lit up the night at the Dubai
Duty Free ATP World Tour tournament. Bopanna and Bhupathi outpaced
their opponents Poles Mariuz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski to
clinch their first title as a team.
Bhupathi and Bopanna, the number four seeds, came through 6-4, 3-6,
10-5, taking 70 minutes to stop their opponents. The winners take home
a cheque of $120,850 and 500 points. While the money won't hurt, the
points will help Bopanna, who celebrates his 32nd birthday on Sunday,
to break back into the top-10 of the individual rankings when the new
order is released on Monday
"I have been in so many finals here, five I think, and this is how I
remember Saturday night. We've always got great support here,"
Bhupathi said.
Bhupathi, the veteran pro in the partnership, said they felt a few
jitters at the start of the final. "We did well to recover from the
second set," the 37-year-old said, "the key to the match was starting
off well in the super tie-break."
After playing strongly to clinch the opening set, the all-Indian
pairing slipped a touch when the powerful Kodava was broken in the
second game of the second set. The duo had chances to break back, but
failed to nail their returns, allowing the match to slip into the
super-tie-break in which they produced a near flawless effort.
If Bhupathi was solid then Bopanna displayed crackling form. Outside
of an overhead he buried into the net in the ninth point, the birthday
boy was at his blazing best. A down-the-middle forehand in which he
split the court to put his team ahead 7-3 was one of the many bombs he
sent across the net in the decider. The shot of the match came on the
pair's first match point when Bopanna cracked the Fyrstenberg serve
with a backhand that whizzed past a clueless Matkowski, who was
stranded at the net.
Bopanna, 6 ft 4 with a sledge-hammer serve, was particularly
appreciative of his senior's partner's contribution in his development
as a player, saying his experience counted especially in big matches
when the situation got tight. "He has 17 years of experience on the
Tour which is really huge," Bopanna said, "I've been part of the Davis
Cup for 10 years now and he has helped me at every stage in my career,
even before we became friends. He always kept in touch. It's a good
opportunity for me to play alongside Mahesh."
Bhupathi said the partnership fed off a friendship in which
communication was easy. "We speak a lot on the court," he said, "We
are not afraid to tell the other when he's not doing the right thing.
We feed off our strengths and we are both aware of our strengths and
weaknesses that makes us dangerous as a team."
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