Indo-Pak express set consists of Indian Rohan Bopanna and Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. Both have to reunite again after gap of six years for Acapulco ATP 500.
Former US Open finalists Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq will play together for an event in Mexico on March 15.
For the first time, Bopanna and Aisam who are calling as Indo-Pak Express will play together since the last time they competed at the ATP 250 event in Shenzhen in 2014. The 2010 season was a breakthrough for Bopanna and Aidam when they reached the US Open final together, losing to Brian brothers. Bopanna even became number 3 in the world during this phase and reached its highest ranking in 2010.
Their partnership have great interest in both countries given the rivalry between neighboring Asian countries.
Since 2012 was the year of the Olympics, Bopanna broke off his partnership with Aisam and decided to work with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi for the season in preparation for the London Olympics.
They reunited in 2014 before separating again. Now 40-year-old Bopanna and Aisam will be back together, even though the arrangement only applies to one tournament from now on.
“We will only play in Mexico for now. We haven’t talked about the future,” Aisam told.
When asked if this could be a long-term deal, Aisam said, “We hope it goes well and we can play more tournaments in the future.”
The 40 year old Pakistani tennis icon said they actually tried to compete in the Tax Free Championship in Dubai together but couldn’t.
What Indo-Pak pair plan for ‘Dubai Open’ ?
“We spent a lot of time together in Australia. We talked about whether we could come to Dubai. He’s looking for a partner and I’m also looking for a partner for the rest of the year. So we decided to join team “For Dubai Open” but unfortunately we didn’t enter”, he said.
“Our combined rankings are not good enough. But we are in Acapulco. I’m very happy. We hope we play well together and do well. Maybe then we can decide and talk about playing a few more tournaments together.” .
“I don’t know what he will do in 2021 – whether he is determined to play with someone or not. We’ll see how it goes,” he added.
