13th November, 2012: As the curtains close on the 2012 ATP season, Rohan Bopanna late last night announced his partnership with American Rajeev Ram for the next season. With a combined experience of 17 years on the pro-circuit, the pair is excited about the challenge that the next year presents.
Rohan and Rajeev, who have been friends on and off the tour for over a decade, had decided a few months ago to combine forces to make what they believe an extremely formidable partnership, given their complementary styles of play and strong service games. Rohan had a successful year with Mahesh Bhupathi, which included two titles at Dubai and Paris and runner-up finish at the recently concluded season-ending London Masters. Rohan had also attained his career-best ranking of 8 in March this year. Speaking about his decision to change partners, Rohan said, "I played with Mahesh in 2012 with a special focus on preparing for the London Olympics and now that it's over, I want to concentrate on the ATP circuit and am eager to build a strong, sustainable partnership. Rajeev is a great player and given our individual strengths, and his command of the deuce court, I believe that we can complement each other very well on the court."
With a career best doubles ranking of 33, 28-year old Rajeev, with his booming serve and solid groundstrokes, has maintained a fine balance between the singles and doubles circuits, choosing to however spend the last few years limiting his single appearances and concentrating on his doubles game. Partnering Scott Lipsky frequently over the last couple of years, Rajeev has won titles at Delray Beach and San Jose in 2011 and has won the St Petersburg Open in September of 2012 while partnering Nenad Zimonjic. Looking forward to the new partnership, Rajeev said, "I am very excited to play with Rohan in 2013. He is not only one of the best doubles players in the world but also a good friend. It is a great opportunity for me and I am looking forward to it."
The duo had earlier made an appearance as a team at the Australian Open in 2008, where as an unseeded combination they proceeded to the pre-quarters defeating higher ranked teams along the way. With a total of 14 ATP doubles titles between them, Rohan and Rajeev are looking to recapture the magic in 2013. Commenting on the upcoming season, Rohan said, "2012 has been a good season for both of us and we hope to continue the momentum into 2013. However, we really want to focus on one match at a time."
Given the highly competitive nature of the ATP circuit, Rajeev was also cautious of looking too far ahead. "Looking at the first month of the year, there are two big events in Chennai and the Australian Open so there is no need to look any further than that" he opined. "We haven't played together since Australia in 2008 so it has been a while. I just hope to continuously improve so that we can reach our full potential," he added.
Rohan and Rajeev will open their campaign in 2013 at the Chennai Open, where Rajeev won the title in 2009 partnering Eric Butorac. With their strong friendship off the court and shared love for grass surface, the duo is gunning for a great year on the tour.
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