Rohan Bopanna partnered Matwe Middelkoop to win his third tour title of the year, when the pair beat third seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-2, 6-4, in the ATP 250 Tel Aviv Open on Sunday.
With the doubles crown, the 42-year-old now breaks back into the top 20 rankings for the first time since August, currently placed 19. Earlier this year, he had partnered Ramkumar Ramanathan to win titles in Adelaide and Pune.
Rohan Bopanna, wiser on court and healthy off it, finds no reason to stop after two decades on tour
But this was the first title he won with his Dutch partner. The duo had reached the final at the Hamburg Open and semifinals at the French Open earlier this year. They also hold a 16-10 record this season.
The top seeds in Israel however, had to work their way back into each of the three matches they played before getting to the final.
They beat Hamad Medjedovic and Yshai Oliel 4-6, 7-6(4), 10-6 in the first round. In the quarterfinal they beat Denys Molchanov and Franko Skugor 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-5 before beating the all-French team of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-8.
In the final though, they played their best tennis.
“I think those close matches, pulling through those you’re obviously having more court time, you’re trying to come through and fight some close battles,” Bopanna said to the ATP website.
“We were a couple of points or one point away from losing those matches, so sometimes those weeks make a huge difference for your confidence.”
This was Bopanna’s first event since the US Open. He was scheduled to compete for India in the Davis Cup World Group 1 tie against Norway, but pulled out because of a knee injury.
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