The famed Scandinavian cool prevailed over the nervousness that comes with such an association: the hype of the partnership, more than the combination itself. Though Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi would have us believe that the strain of the spotlight — playing their first ATP final with a home-crowd rooting raucously — had nothing to do with their 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) loss to the Swedish-Finnish pair of Robert Lindstedt and Jarrko Nieminen. Bopanna-Qureshi duo wasn’t once broken during the match, which was eventually decided over a clutch of crucial points in the twin tie-breaks. The cacophony of the home support and the pressure that comes with it would have contributed to some of the bloopers. Qureshi rarely attempts the lob; on a crucial break-point in the 11th game of the second set he gave into one. Bopanna swished wide at a backhand in the next game, while Nieminen and Lindstedt were better organised for the net-exchanges. Still, pushing both sets into tie-breaks Rohan Bopanna wowed the crowd with some down-the-line winners, and Qureshi when unhurried at the crowded net left his supporters gushing over a back-hand volley. As the straightest of backs hunched in anxiety in the stadium, Bopanna-Qureshi went down fighting. It was the third disappointment for Bopanna, who had gone down in another thriller in last edition’s final in the company of Mustafa Ghouse. The Scandinavians who have earlier beaten the Bryan twins and Michael Llodra-Arnaud Clement, though without much success in the final, picked their first Tour title. “It feels better to win with a good friend. And I appreciate that he stuck around though its not great preparation for his next event in Tokyo,” said Lindstedt later.
