Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul haq Qureshi and his Indian doubles’ partner Rohan Bopanna won a narrow battle against Dutchman Robin Hasse and Canadian Milos Raonic, beating them 7-6, 3-6, 11-9 in the ATP Gerry Weber Open final in Halle, Germany to win their second ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tennis tournament.
The top-seeded Indo-Pak pair was made to sweat by their opponents as they lost the second set and were stretched to the limit in the deciding one before finally emerging victorious. Bopanna and Qureshi did not face any seeded team in the tournament, but still dropped three sets during the event.
The sixth-ranked doubles’ pair in the world have enjoyed a good run recently, reaching the quarter-final of the French Open, where they lost to doubles world number one pair of Mike and Bob Bryan. After that defeat Qureshi had made it clear that the pair had to toughen up mentally to win close encounters and that resolve showed through yesterday in the tight finish.
“I wish we were mentally stronger,” Aisam had said after his French Open defeat. “Missing crucial points has proved to be our downfall. However, improving in the ATP doubles rankings before Wimbledon is a huge achievement.”
Kohlschreiber wins singles title
Meanwhile, Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber won the singles final of Halle’s ATP tournament 7-6, 2-0 after compatriot Philipp Petzschner was forced to retire hurt with a back injury.
Petzschner suffered the injury while hitting a shot with the scores poised at 5-5 in the first set.
He grimaced noticeably and although he laboured on, it was clear early in the second set that he will not be able to continue.
This was Kohlschreiber’s third ATP title and the first time he has won at Halle.
Wozniacki wins WTA Copenhagen
Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark won her second straight WTA Copenhagen title beating fourth-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4.
Wozniacki did not lose a set all week in Copenhagen, and the 20-year-old Dane dominated from start to finish to claim her fifth WTA title of the year in front of a sellout home crowd at the Farum Arena.
The 38th-ranked Safarova converted her only break point in the match to level the second set at 2-2, but Wozniacki sealed the win one hour and seven minutes. The world number one had kind words for her opponent after defeating her.
“Congratulations to her for a good week,” she said. “I wish her good luck — hopefully we can both make it far at Wimbledon.”
Philipp Kohlschreiber
“It is a damned pity that Philipp could not play on. It is a shame for the fans but you could see he was really suffering.”
Caroline Wozniacki
“Congratulations to Lucie for a good week. I wish her good luck in the grass court season - hopefully we can both make it far at Wimbledon.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2011.
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