Yuki Bhambri joins Indian tennis greats with Dubai triumph

Dubai: Indian ace Yuki Bhambri has kept the Indian flag flying in Dubai, joining the elite legends Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza as winners of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Crowd favourites Bhambri and Australia’s Alexei Popyrin edged out second seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Great Britain’s Henry Patten 3-6, 7-6, 10-8 in a marathon two-hour tussle on Centre Court, ending a 10-year wait for an Indian triumph at the Aviation Club courts.

Indian players have kept the Dubai fans on their feet with scintillating performances, especially Sania defeating the reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals in 2007, marking one of the most memorable moments in the tournament’s history.

“It was just about having fun on the court,” said 32-year-old Bhambri, who claimed his maiden ATP 500 title. “We went match by match … We were so close to losing in the first round, so it’s unbelievable to be in the finals and to win it — I don’t think I ever dreamt of that.”

It was not an easy path for Bhambri and Popyrin, who battled past the British duo Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool 5-7, 7-6, 10-5 in the quarter-finals and entered the final after another three-setter against John Peers and Jamie Murray.

It must have been a memorable moment for Popyrin, who was a former ball kid at the championships — to now be on top of the podium must have given him plenty of good memories.

“Alexei (Popyrin) is an incredible player, we all know that he’s very good in singles, but I think he has a great doubles career ahead of him as well.”