London: India’s Rohan Bopanna and his doubles partner Florin Mergea failed in the final hurdles and lost the title clash of 2015 ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday. The eighth-seeded Bopanna and Mergea were defeated by the second-seeded pair of Jean-Julien Roger of the Netherlands and Romania’s Horia Tecau in straight sets 4-6, 3-6 in one hour and two minutes at London’s O2 Arena.
The Indo-Romanian pair started in the worst possible fashion, losing the first service game of the match, and never recovered, losing the set 4-6 in 32 minutes. The second set. however, started in even keel, but once again the higher-ranked team took the break in the fifth game, giving themselves the much needed lead. Then, Bopanna and Mergea again lost the serve in the ninth game for a 4-6, 3-6 defeat.
It’s the first year-end title for Roger-Tecau, who famously defeated the top-seeded pair, US twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the semis. By reaching the final, Roger and Tecau have already assured themselves the year ending world number ones. The undefeated pair of Roger-Tecau also created an unique record by winning the title without droping a set, since 1986.
Bopanna and Mergea, who teamed up only in April, qualified for the tournament on the last day of the regular season, and it was their fifth final together.They have won the Madrid and Stuttgart titles in an incredible year. Notably, Bopanna was also the runner-up with countryman Mahesh Bhupathi in 2012.