Bopanna-Ramanathan win men's doubles crown at Tata Open Maharashtra

They defeated Australia’s Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith to claim their second ATP title.

Star Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan produced a scintillating display to clinch the doubles title at the 2022 Tata Open Maharashtra with a stunning victory in the final at the Balewadi Stadium in here on Sunday.

The Indians defeated Australia’s Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 10-6 to claim their second ATP title together at the Tata Open Maharashtra. It was Bopanna’s 21st doubles title, and second in Pune after having won it in 2019, playing alongside Divij Sharan. The fourth edition of South Asia’s only ATP-250 event is being organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association.

The Indian duo, which kickstarted the year on a high with their maiden ATP title together in Adelaide in January, started off well and despite some stiff challenge from the top seeds, put themselves ahead in the contest at 5-4.

However, the Aussie pair, looking to win their first title, took the set into the tie-breaker and wrapped up the opening set after that lasted for close to an hour.

Veteran doubles player Bopanna and his young energetic partner Ramkumar fought back well with a 4-2 lead in the second set at the Tata Open Maharashtra. They further capitalised the momentum and levelled the scores.

Having titled the momentum in their favour, Bopanna and Ramkumar held their nerves to take the charge in the crucial decider and secured a win in the grueling encounter at the Tata Open Maharashtra. 

Talking about the duo's two titles this year, the Bengaluru-native added: "Both are extremely special but anytime you win a title at home it’s a lot more special. The crowd made a lot of difference both yesterday and today, you just get that extra boost, that extra energy. Even if your legs are feeling tired, that’s the energy you need to hit the serve, especially for me. Winning in India is always special and especially with an Indian partner is truly great."

"I just have to work on a few things on court and just keep competing at this level as much as I can which will improve my game and automatically the ranking," the 27-year-old Ramkumar said.

The Tata Open Maharashtra is being owned by IMG and operated by RISE Worldwide in India.

Later tonight in the singles title clash, sixth-seeded Emil Ruusuvuori will take on Portugal's Joao Sousa.

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