Veteran Indian tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi clinched his 50th career title and his first with Rohan Bopanna when the duo outwitted Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski to lift the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships doubles men's trophy. The Fourth-seeded Indians prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 in 69 minutes to capture their first ATP World Tour doubles title together.
Bhupathi and Bopanna joined forces full time at the beginning of the season and came into Dubai having reached the semi-finals at the Aircel Chennai Open and the Open 13 in Marseille.
"It's my first ATP (World Tour) 500 title," said Bopanna.
"This is great, and obviously it's great to play with Mahesh. All that 17 years of experience on court I think really helps in those close matches and these big moments.
"It's a good opportunity for me to play with him, alongside him. I couldn't have asked for anything better than winning this title."
The 37-year-old Bhupathi captured his fourth title at this ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tennis tournament.
The right-hander previously triumphed in 1998 (with Leander Paes), 2004 (Fabrice Vetea Santoro) and 2008 (with Mark Knowles).
The 31-year-old Bopanna clinched his sixth ATP World Tour doubles title.
"It's amazing. It's even better than playing at home, because the stadium here is bigger than Chennai. For me, fortunately, it's my fifth final I think and it's always like this on Saturday. It's amazing, so many Indians," said Bhupathi.
Competing in their 32nd tour-level final together, Fyrstenberg and Matkowski were chasing their first title since triumphing at the AEGON International in Eastbourne in June 2010.
