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Bopanna and Qureshi win Paris Masters

Last updated on: November 13, 2011 18:39 IST

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won their first ATP Masters tournament after whipping the challenge of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in straight sets in the final, in Paris, on Sunday.

The seventh seeded Indo-Pak pair needed just 65 minutes to defeat the French wild cards 6-2, 6-4 and pocket their third title of the season.

They won the Gerry Weber Open at Halle and Stockholm Open before this event.

Bopanna and Qureshi, who have already qualified for the season finale in London, earned 1000 ranking points each and split euro 134,500 in prize-money.

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq QureshiThe pair created chances in a jiffy and broke their opponents in the third and fifth games to open a comprehensive 4-1 lead in the opening set within 20 minutes.

Twice they were down 0-30, but did not lose control over the set.

Benneteau and Mahut, who had shocked top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan en route to the final, gave a better account of themselves in the second set but could not stop the in-form 'Indo-Pak Express' from lifting the title.

A good battle followed in the second set as the two pairs were locked 4-4.

But Bopanna and Qureshi broke Mahut when the Frechman committed his second double fault in the ninth game, sixth overall, to offer a break chance.

They then served out the match in the next game after a few anxious moments.

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