Bopanna earns double glory

Of late Indian tennis has rarely basked in glory and when it did, almost all achievements made first of its kind stories. So when the world sat up

Of late Indian tennis has rarely basked in glory and when it did, almost all achievements made first of its kind stories. So when the world sat up to watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal set up a lip smacking final showdown at Wimbledon on Saturday, and India end their challenge with Leander Paes8217; mixed doubles loss, it was Rohan Bopanna who earned the applauds.

Slugging it out several hundred kilometers north-west of the mecca of tennis in Flitzwilliam, Dublin, Bopanna, who dreams to play at Wimbledon every single day he steps out on any grass court, swept both the singles and doubles titles.

While winning a singles title outside Asia is by itself a feat that few Indians have achieved, Bopanna, among the current crop of tried tested Davis Cuppers, annexed the first ATP Challenger title of his career.

Consider this: Bopanna joined Paes and Harsh Mankad as the only players to have won Challenger singles titles abroad. While Paes8217; last title was the Brazillia event in 1995, Mankad 11 years later won the Manchester title.

In the summit clash of the Irish Open, the Coorg-based Indian defeated Dane Martin Pedersen 6-4, 6-3, after winning the doubles with an easy 6-2, 6-2 win with Adam Feeney Australia, at the expense of German duo Lars Burgsmuller and Mischa Zverev.

The doubles title was worth 55 ATP points for Bopanna who had made it to the finals of the ATP Tour events at Chennai and Mumbai last year. Undoubtedly his best week, Bopanna could not have asked for more.

8220;My best win and it means a lot for me,8221; he told The Indian Express soon after his triumph which also coincided with a never-to-occur again day which dates 07-07-07. 8220;It sure makes it memorable,8221; he joked. With a not-so-impressive year which includes a win-loss sequence in the 13 tournaments that he played until Saturday, Bopanna8217;s effort is laced with the fact that he dropped serve just once last week.

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8220;My service was bang-on and that helped my confidence a lot,8221; Bopanna 8212; nicknamed 8216;Bofors8217; 8212; explained. In fact, the other secret of the 27-year-old8217;s success story was the synthetic grass courts. 8220;I was playing on it the surface for he first time. I loved the courts which was quick much to my liking,8221; he said.

Bopanna has made it to any Challenger semi final only twice before 8212; at Bukara, Uzbekistan in 2002 and 2006 8212; and lost in the final last year. Ranked 289 in the world, Bopanna put aside Mischa Zverev of Germany 8212; the defending champion 8212; who is ranked 155 places higher en route his title. The other serious opponent that Bopanna put out was No 6 seed Simon Stadler Germany, ranked 205 by the ATP.

While the singles title would fetch Bopanna 55 points, the 16 points that fall off from last year8217;s Winnetka Challanger and Wimbledon qualifiers would end up in a net gain of 39 points and take his tally to 164 points. Simply put; his rankings next week would shoot up at least by 50-odd places and close to 235, which still would be short of his career-high rank of 230.