Pakistan tennis star Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Indian partner Rohan Bopanna won their first-ever ATP Masters tournament after whipping away the challenge of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in straight sets in the final on Sunday. The two countries with many controversies politically, united in the tennis to capture their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in the BNP Paribas Masters final at Paris. The duo conquered the opponents with a 6-2, 6-4 marking their supremacy.
The seventh seeded Pakistan-India pair took just 65 minutes to defeat the French wild cards entries 6-2, 6-4 and pocket their third title of the season. They had won the Gerry Weber Open at Halle and the Stockholm Open before this event. “This win gives us a lot of confidence, it is our biggest title by far,” said Bopanna. “All the hard work over the years has paid off.”
“We are ecstatic to win our first Masters 1000 title,” said Qureshi. “Last year we didn’t play well in finals and this year we have won three out of three.” The duo who have already qualified for the season finale in London, earned 1000 ranking points each and split euro 134,500 as prize money. With this win, the Indo-Pak Express will be ranked a career high World No. 5 when the ATP rankings are updated Monday.
