Paes Champions Bhupathi Crumbles—Nathan’s Blog
By: Nathan M. Cuny
Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi’s debut began well when they defeated Xavier Malisse and Ken Skupski in the Chennai Open’s first round and later defeated Stanislas Wawrinka and Andreas Beck in the quarterfinals. Hypothesis rose that the new Indian team of Bopanna and Bhupathi would advance to the finals where the former teammates Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes would go head to head. Instead, Leander Paes with his teammate Janko Tipsarevic contended with Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the Aircel Chennai Open finals.
The loss was only a minor setback for the Olympic hopefuls Bopanna and Bhupathi, yet their performance leaves one questioning if there was another reason why Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes split. Bhupathi commented that they split because Leander felt they were far too old together to be consistent. However, the one year reunion in 2011 following nearly a decade of disparity between the two showed extreme consistency, especially by the season’s end where they finished as No.4.
The age difference between Bhupathi and Bopanna is minimal at a slight 6 years. Rohan Bopanna the younger player has never reached the heights Bhupathi has as a professional. Bopanna reached his highest ranking of No.9 in 2011 and won his first and only Grand Slam, the US Open, in 2010. Leander Paes’ new teammate, Janko Tipsarevic, is 11 years Paes’ junior. Perhaps this age difference plus Tipsarevic’s current ranking high as No.9 will give the No.8 player Paes a better shot at one more go for the Olympics then his former No.7 teammate Bhupathi.
Bhupathi and Paes have both been doubles No.1’s, won multiple Grand Slam’s, and won the Aircel Chennai Open together five times. The former teammates won in the years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, and 2011. They have never won the tournament separately. This year has broken that trend. Paes and Tipsarevic won the Aircel Chennai Open title, on Saturday January 7th defeating Rajeev Ram and Scott Lipsky 6-2, 6-7(1), 10-7.
Paes and Tipsarevic’s finals win was close to Bhupathi and Bopanna’s semifinals loss performance wise. The match fell short of astounding with Paes and Tipsarevic shooting a total of one ace, scoring sixty-two percent of their points on serve, and making zero double faults. Bhupathi’s and Bopanna’s semifinals loss to Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram was a close one, losing 6-4, 3-6, 8-10. Both teams shot a total of 5 aces each. Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi scored seventy percent of their points on serve, while the winning team only scored sixty-seven percent of their points on serve. Bhupathi and Bopanna made zero double faults in their semifinals match.
Whatever Paes’ motives were for the split, they are undoubtedly working. Gaining his first title of the season before his former teammate shows just how great a tennis player Paes is. Bopanna perhaps may one day reach the heights and skill Bhupathi and Paes have. He remains hopeful after his loss, stating, “It gives us confidence. We’ve played three matches here and we were playing a team that has won a Grand Slam (the 2008 Australian Open doubles) and we have a lot of positives to take from the match. Now we have a whole week to get ready for the Australian Open.”
Topics: Aircel Chennai Open, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna
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