BOPANNA-QURESHI RENEW PARTNERSHIP
THE popular IndiaPakistan pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi will be back after six years when they compete at the Acapulco ATP 500 event in Mexico from March 15.
It will be the first time that Bopanna and Qureshi, known as the ‘Indo-Pak Express’ will play as doubles partners since the ATP 250 event in Shenzen in 2014.
They first paired up in 2010, and that season turned out be a breakthrough one for Bopanna and Qureshi as they reached the US Open final, losing to the Bryan brothers.
Bopanna even became world number three during that time, achieving his careerhigh rank that year. Their pairing generated huge interest in both countries given the rivalry between the Asian neighbours.
Since 2012 was an Olympic year, Bopanna chose to partner compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi for that season so they could represent India at the London Games.
Bopanna and Qureshi joined forces in 2014 before parting ways again.
Now they will be together again, albeit only for one tournament as of now.
“Right now we are just getting together to play in Mexico. So far we have not spoken about future,” Qureshi said.
Asked if this could end up being a longterm arrangement, he said, “Hopefully, it goes well and we can maybe play more tournaments in the future as well.”
The 40-year-old Pakistani tennis icon said the duo attempted to enter the Dubai Duty Free Championships together but did not succeed.
“We spent a lot of time together in Australia and spoke about if we could get into Dubai. He was looking for a partner and I was too for the rest of the year. So we thought, let’s team up for the Dubai Open, but unfortunately we did not get in. Our combined ranking was not good enough.
“But we got into Acapulco. I am super excited. Hopefully, we will play well together and hit it off again. Maybe then we can talk of playing a few more tournaments together, but right it’s a one-off thing.
“I don’t know what his plans are for 2021, if he is committed to play with someone or not. We will see how things go.”