Bopanna misses out on Tour Finals title

Netherland's Jean-Julien Rojer (R) and Romania's Horia Tecau hold up the trophy after winning the men's doubles final match against India's Rohan Bopanna and Romania's Florin Mergea on day eight of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London. (AFP PHOTO/GLYN KIRK)

LONDON: India's Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian doubles partner Florin Mergea missed out on the ATP Tour Finals title after suffering a 6-4, 6-3 defeat against Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in Sunday's (Nov 22) final.

Bopanna and Mergea had hoped to cap a memorable first season together by winning the prestigious event at London's O2 Arena. But they were blown away in just 60 minutes as Rojer, from the Netherlands, and Romania's Tecau showed why they are set to finish the season as the world's top ranked doubles pair.

The second seeds, who had beaten top ranked Bob and Mike Bryan in the semi-finals, needed just one break to take the first set and then swept to victory with two more breaks in a one-sided second set.

"We had one or two chances. The two break-points we had were in the same game. Of course, if we can convert that break-point, maybe it could have been different," Bopanna said. "Credit to them, they played really well. All we can do is just keep working on our game and keep fighting hard."

It was another frustrating Tour Finals experience for Bopanna, who also finished as runner-up with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 2012.

Even so, Bopanna and Mergea's run to the final promises better things in the future for the duo. Having only teamed up in April, this was their fifth final together.

The pair won the Madrid and Stuttgart titles and qualified for the Tour Finals, which features the world's top eight doubles teams, on the last day of the regular season.

"It was just a tough day but it's been a great week, making it in the final for the first time for us as a team,"Bopanna said.

"And for the season, starting out in April, playing just about a handful of tournaments and to qualify here, I think it's been a fantastic year for us. We can take a lot of positives from this year, and looking forward to starting fresh in the beginning of the year in January."