Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna won their second ATP doubles title of the season, and third overall together, after outplaying Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares in straight sets in the summit clash of the Stockholm Open, on Sunday. According to reports received here, the top seeded Indo-Pak pair lived up to its top billing as they downed the Brazilian opponents 6-1, 6-4 in just 57 minutes in the final of the euro 600,00 hard court event. They split euro 29,400 as prize money and captured 250 ranking points each. Before this win, Qureshi and Bopanna had triumphed at Halle this year and at Johannesburg in 2010. Overall, it is Bopanna’s fourth ATP doubles title as he had won a title in 2008 with American Eric Butorac at Los Angeles.
Monfils victorious: Gael Monfils won his first title in a year on Sunday when he defeated Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 to claim the Stockholm Open crown. Monfils, ranked 20th but provisional 15th in the 2011 points chase to next month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London, kept his qualifying chances alive for the eight-man season wrap-up. The fighting Finn saved three match points before driving a forehand wide to lose in just under two hours. Nieminen was playing in his third Stockholm final. The 30-year-old, world number 73, lost in 2001 to Sjeng Schalken and in 2006 to James Blake, whom he beat in Saturday’s semi-finals. Monfils had been the only member of the top 15 without a title until he came through over Nieminen in a repeat of a win in Bangkok three weeks ago. Earlier, Flying Finn Jarkko Nieminen defeated two-time champion James Blake 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-2.
The 30-year-old Nieminen won in Auckland five years ago but has lost five finals since — including Stockholm to Blake in 2006. Blake came to the semi-final with a 6-1 lead in head-to-head meetings and had also beaten the Finn in 2007 and 2010 quarter-finals at the Kungligahallen. Blake, plagued by several seasons of injuries, began his week by eliminating second seed Juan Martin Del Potro, while Nieminen put out third seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round. For Blake, ranked 69th after years in the Top 10, this was only his third defeat in the capital.
“I was angry with the way that I played,” said the 31-year-old American afterwards. “I had chances and I didn’t take them. Jarkko played more aggressive and served better than I’ve even seen him do. “He deserved to win. I get frustrated when I know I’m not playing my best. I’m fine physically, the shoulder and the knee. He made me play his way. He was aggressive and forced himself on me.” Nieminen, who almost matched Blake with five aces to the American’s six and broke five times in a victory lasting just over two hours, found little fault with his performance. “This was pretty close to my best,” said the Finn. “It’s one of the top ten wins of my career. I’m pleased with how I played. “My tactics worked well today, I varied my serve and took advantage of it in a smart way. I stayed aggressive all the way through. There were only a few points where I was not positive.”
