Dubai: Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor won their second title of the season with a 6-4, 6-1 verdict over Nenad Zimonjic and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi in the doubles final of the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open on Saturday.
The Indo-Canadian pair had started the season on a strong note with the title in Sydney in January and on Saturday afternoon, they sealed an authoritative win in just 55 minutes.
Incidentally, all four players had figured in last year’s final, although with different partners: Zimonjic was with Nestor and the Indo-Pak Express had been enjoying the best time of their careers together on the ATP World Tour.
“I think we played a really solid match where we stuck to our strengths playing aggressive tennis, and a lot of high percentage of first serves which I think was the key. That put a lot of pressure on them. Once we got the break in the first set, I think the momentum really shifted to our side. Once we got the second break in the second set, I think they were already down, and we just had to make sure we had to keep our game high,” Bopanna reflected later.
Nestor and Bopanna got their first break in the ninth game of the opening set on Zimonjic’s serve. Bopanna then served out the set in 27 minutes. In the second set, it was Qureshi’s turn to be broken and Nestor then held for an early 2-0 lead. Another break later in the set ensured there were no further hiccups like in the semi-finals and they were through.
Nestor admitted that knowledge of the two players across the net makes a huge difference while on court. “I think it goes both ways. Obviously they know us, too. In all of these doubles matches, it really comes down to a couple points and who starts a little bit better and who gets ahead. Fortunately we did that today. If they would have got an early break, it would have been a totally different match,” Nestor said.
“Doubles always comes down to a couple points. Generally closer matches than singles, and today we were fortunate,” he added.
