By IANS
Montreal : India’s Mahesh Bhupathi captured his 40th doubles title on the ATP Tour when he partnered Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic to win the Montreal Masters here.
The eighth seeded pairing, playing together for the first time, won 6-4, 6-4 Sunday afternoon against the fifth seeded duo of Paul Hanley of Australia and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe.
The teams battled fiercely throughout the one-hour, eight-minute final, with just five more points separating them. But two of those points were the key to the match, as the winners converted on both of their break point opportunities, one in each set. Their opponents were unsuccessful on their only chance that came their way.
Bhupathi and Vizner were a well-accomplished team thanks to their individual careers. The Indian had 39 career ATP doubles titles until the tournament, including four Grand Slam championships. Vizner held 14 career ATP doubles titles.
“I was looking for a partner so I sent him a message a few weeks ago, and he was already playing with somebody else. And we just got really lucky, because they were not going to get in last minute. And then a week ago he sent me a message, and wham-bam,” said Bhupathi of his new combination.
“I guess four, five years ago I set the goal at 50, so 80 percent there. And see how long I can play, as long as I can enjoy it.
“At some point I’d like to get there, but one step at a time. Winning a Masters is always special. Especially the way we did it, beating three of the best teams in the world, so we’ll just enjoy it now,” he added
Quipped Vizner: “This was the first Masters Series final for me. Sometimes you have to wait longer… I’m a patient person.”
En route to their triumph here, Bhupathi and Vizner took out a trio of higher seeds – number four Martin Damm and Leander Paes in the quarterfinals, number one Bob and Mike Bryan in the semi-finals and finally number five Hanley and Ullyett.