Bopanna-Ramkumar beat top seeds to win Adelaide International
India's Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan on Sunday completed their perfect debut as a pair on the ATP tour by winning the Adelaide International 1 title. The duo clinched their first ATP title by upsetting the top-seeded Croatian-Brazilian duo Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 7-6(6), 6-1. Prior to Adelaide, Bopanna and Ramkumar had played just one game together in Davis Cup.
Why does it matter?
Adelaide International is Ramkumar's first ATP trophy. It is Bopanna's 20th overall ATP title. The world number 43's last ATP title victory came in 2020 in Doha Open. With this win, Ramkumar and Bopanna have proved themselves to be a suited pair in men's doubles, which is good news for India as they are set to play Denmark in Davis Cup later this year.
How the match panned out?
Bopanna and Ramkumar were a force to reckon with during the Adelaide final match against Dodig and Melo. They hammered nine aces in the match as compared to three by the Croatian-Brazilian duo. Dodig and Melo had one double faults while the Indian committed the same mistake twice. Overall, Bopanna and Ramkumar won 64 points while their opponent managed to win just 51.
Bopanna and Ramanathan's road to first ATP title
Bopanna and Ramanathan started their campaign with straight sets 6-2, 6-1 win over American-Brazilian pair Jamie Cerretani and Fernando Romboli in R32. In R16, they overpowered American duo Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 10-4. They defeated fourth-seeded Bosnian-Mexican pair Tomislav Brkic and Santiago Gonzalez in semis 6-2, 6-4. They won the title by defeating Dodig and Melo in the final.
A glance at Bopanna's career
Rohan Bopanna has won 20 doubles titles in his career. He has finished as runner-up on 28 occasions in ATP events. He has never won a Grand Slam. But he has won four ATP 1000 Masters - Monte Carlo (2017), Madrid Open (2015), Paris Masters in 2011 and 2012. He is currently ranked 43 in doubles.
A glance at Ramkumar Ramanathan's career
Ramkumar Ramanathan has won one ATP doubles title - Adelaide International 1 (2022). He has reached one singles final on ATP tour in 2018 - Newport. He is currently ranked 184 in singles. He has a 22-32 win-loss ratio in singles.
