Bopanna to partner Ram at Chennai Open

Ace India doubles player Rohan Bopanna will partner US-based Rajeev Ram at the Chennai Open tennis tournament to be held in Chennai from December 31 to January 6.

Bopanna and Ram had earlier appeared as a team at the Australian Open in 2008, where they proceeded to the pre-quarters defeating higher ranked teams along the way.

The organisers had earlier announced that the country's top doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi will be teaming up with world No. 5 doubles player Daniel Nestor of Canada.

The Indian combo of Bhupathi and Bopanna, who had won two titles at Dubai and Paris and a runner-up finish at the just-concluded season-ending London Masters, had recently announced their decision to play with different partners in 2013.

Bopanna, along with Bhupathi, had compiled an impressive 34-22 match record and 2-3 in finals, and in the past also collaborated with players like Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and American player Eric Butorac.

Bopanna and Ram, given their complementary styles of playing and strengths in critical areas of the sport, are looking for a good start at the season-opening tournament.

Bopanna has considerable experience on the doubles circuit and attained his career-best ranking of eight in March 2012. The 6 feet 4 inch Ram, on the other hand, captured his first ATP World Tour doubles title in Chennai in 2009, and later in Bangkok with partner Butorac. He is a talented singles and doubles player, and won the St Petersburg Open along with Nenad Zimonjic earlier this year.