By IANS
New Delhi : Three titles in three weeks. That is what the India-Pakistan pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul Haq Quereshi has achieved in the Challenger Series events in Britain and Spain.
Both the players are 27 years old, born 13 days apart in March 1980, and play right-hand. Bopanna was born on March 4 and Quereshi on March 17.
Back-to-back successes at Manchester and Nottingham in England and Segovia, Spain, have propelled them up the ATP doubles rankings as well, though still not high enough to crack even the qualifying rounds of Tour events.
Their performance, however, has not been lost on all. Bopanna and Quershi have been promised a wild card for the Indian Open in Mumbai this September by the tournament’s promoter Mahesh Bhupathi, who has held the number one doubles ranking with fellow Indian Leander Paes not so long ago.
Bopanna is at a career-high 92 in the ATP doubles rankings while Quereshi is ranked 130. But the tables are turned in singles where the Pakistani is at 155 compared to 222 for the Indian.
The numbers may not be enough for the pair to make it to the main draw for doubles but the promise of a wild card would be enough incentive for the duo to enter the singles qualifying as well.
What makes the Indian-Pakistani pair click is the similar lifestyle that bonds them when away from the comforts of home as they play in the Challenger Series events away from the sub-continent.
“We hang around together and have a great understanding both on and off the court,” Bopanna has been quoted as saying in the European media.
“It’s great to travel and play with someone who understands your way of life. Food is least of the problems, especially in England. It’s the companionship that’s important,” the Lahore-born Quereshi commented on his partner, who hails from Bangalore.
The duo met for the first time in 2002 when Quereshi beat Bopanna in straight sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 in the Asia-Oceania zone Group I play-off in Mumbai and joined forces the following year for their fist appearance in Denver, Colorado, on the professional tennis circuit.
It was not until 2007 that they started playing together on a regular basis as their regular meetings on the Challenger circuit served to build a bond between the two 27-year-olds looking to make a mark in the highly competitive world of professional sport.
Success at the lower level will certainly help the duo climb up the rankings list and as the partnership blossoms, the day not be far when they become regulars in the ATP Tour events also.
Theirs is an enduring partnership indeed and with more things common than just tennis, it could well become a tale of cross-border friendship that transcends barriers.