‘It’s what we play for’

Ace Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna rewrote his own record to continue to be the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion as he and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden clinched the menrsquos doubles crown at the Miami Open hereContinuing their fine run this year the 44yearold Bopanna and Ebden fought back from a set down to pull off an exhilarating 673 63 106 win over Crotiarsquos Ivan Dodig and American Austin Krajicek at the Hard Rock Stadium on SaturdayWith the win Bopanna surpassed his record created last year when he won the Indian Wells title at the age of 43 and also reclaimed the top spot in the doubles ranking ldquoItrsquos amazing As long as you are doing well in these big events itrsquos what we play forrdquo Bopanna said after the winAlso Read Must improve fielding PBKS skipper DhawanEyes Slam winsldquoI want to do well in the Masters 1000s and the Grand Slams Itrsquos good to keep that record going and keep giving everyone else a run for their moneyrdquo added Bopanna who won his maiden doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this yearDanielle CollinsThis was Bopannarsquos 14th ATP Masters 1000 final Overall it was the veteran Indian playerrsquos 63rd ATP Tour level final and 26th doubles title Bopanna also achieved a rare feat as he became the second Indian after Leander Paes to reach the final of all nine ATP Masters eventsBopanna and Ebden the top seeds for the tournament tapped into their deep reservoir of experience to fetch the final six points of the summit clash They had three set points on serve at 65 in the opening set but their secondseeded opponents warded off all three to force a tiebreaker before taking a 10 leadldquoItrsquos tough These guys they fight back in tough momentsrdquo said Ebden ldquoLast time we played them it was similar itrsquos a bit of a seesaw They return so well make so many balls and we missed one or two shots when we were up at the end of the first set They played a great tiebreak and then we just resetrdquo Bopanna and Ebden then staged a comeback as they broke their opponent early in the second set which helped them level the gameLike the opening two sets the tiebreaker was also fought on an even keel with the reigning Australian Open champions emerging victorious Following the Australian Open triumph Bopanna climbed to the world No1 spot in the ATP rankings becoming the oldest player to do so But slipped to the second spot in the doubles rankings after a quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Championships and a roundof32 exit at the Indian Wells MastersCollins wins womenrsquos titleMeanwhile Danielle Collins had the perfect sendoff at her final Miami Open beating Elena Rybakina 75 63 to capture the title in her home state before an adoring crowd that included Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova The 30yearold Collins announced at the Australian Open that this season would be her last because shersquos suffering from endometriosis a painful ailment that affects the uterusThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever