Divij Sharan and Igor Zelenay win ATP title in St. Petersburg
Divij Sharan in partnership with Igor Zelenay of Slovakia beat Matteo Berrettini and Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 to clinch the doubles title in the $1,248,665 ATP Tour tennis tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday.
The champion team collected 250 ATP points and $66,740. The runners-up won 150 points and $34,200.
It was the fifth Tour doubles title for the 33-year-old Divij, who had started the season bright by winning the Maharashtra Open ATP title in Pune with Rohan Bopanna.
Divij and Bopanna, who had won the Asian Games gold last year in Palembang had tried to compete together in the professional circuit in the first quarter of the season, but opted to partner others later in an attempt to get into the bigger events.
It was the third title of the season for Divij, who had won the $125,000 Ningbo Challenger a fortnight earlier with Matthew Ebden of Australia.
The 49th ranked Divij has so far won 16 Challenger and 19 Futures doubles titles, apart from the five Tour titles.
Interestingly, Divij and Bopanna had beaten the Italian pair of Berrettini and Bolelli for the only success in the Davis Cup tie against the Italians on grass in Kolkata earlier in the season.
In the finals on Sunday, it was the Italians who led 5-2 in the super tie-break and stretched it to 8-7. The Indo-Slovakian pair turned the tide in its favour by winning the next three points and pocketing the title.
Earlier in the semifinals, Divij and partner had ousted the top seeds Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor of Croatia 7-5, 6-1.
The results:
$ 1,248,665 ATP, St. Petersburg, Russia
Doubles (final): Igor Zelenay (SVK) & Divij Sharan bt Matteo Berrettini & Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-3, 3-6, 10-8; Semifinals: Igor Zelenay & Divij Sharan bt Nikola Mektic & Franko Skugor (CRO) 7-5, 6-1.
€ 46,600 Challenger, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Doubles (semifinals): Jamie Murray (GBR) & John-Patrick Smith (AUS) bt Marek Gengel (CZE) & Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2, 6-3.
(Courtesy: The Hindu)
