Bopanna-Edouard pair lifts Japan Open

Tokyo: Rohan Bopanna ended his long wait for the second title of the season as he lifted the Japan Open trophy with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, sailing past Jamie Murray and John Peers, here on Sunday.

The fourth seeded Indo-French pair emerged winners with a 7-6 (5) 6-4 scoreline against the Briton-Australian combo in one hour and 17 minutes in the summit clash of the USD 1,297,000 ATP 500 tournament. Bopanna had won his first title of the 2013 season in February when he triumphed at ATP 250 event in Marseille, France with British partner Colin Fleming. He had also reached the final of Rome Masters with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi but ended runners-up. It was a tough battle out there for Bopanna and his partner as the two teams fought tooth and nail, not allowing a single break in the opening set. The fourth seeds had five break chances but Murray and Peers saved all to stretch the issue to a tie-breaker. In the second set, Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin finally converted a break chance to get a lead, which they maintained to emerge winners. PTI