Rohan Bopanna snubs Indo-Pak rivalry, reunites with Pakistan star Aisam Qureshi in Mexico

Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna is set to partner alongside Pakistan's Aisam Qureshi after six years at the upcoming Acapulco Open 2021, which is scheduled to begin on March 15. The 'Indo-Pak Express' last played together at the ATP 250 event in Shenzhen in 2014. India and Pakistani fans will hope that the pairing helps the two nations set aside their differences in tumultuous times with geopolitical tensions continuously on the rise.

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Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi team up again after six years

The duo first teamed up in 2007 and also managed to break into the top ten ATP men's double rankings in 2010. The 2010 season was perhaps the best year for Bopanna and Qureshi as they reached the US Open final, only ending up losing to the great Bryan brothers. In 2010, Bopanna also touched a career-high ranking of World No.3.

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In his interview with PTI, Qureshi highlighted his intentions to play many more tournaments with Bopanna in the future provided the two can put up decent performances at the Acapulco Open 2021. "Right now we are just getting together to play in Mexico. So far we have not spoken about future. Hopefully, it goes well and we can maybe play more tournaments in future as well," said Qureshi.

Meanwhile, Bopanna also shared a similar opinion when asked about partnering with Qureshi. Bopanna said, "You are spending day in and day out with that person but I need to get my rankings up. For that I need a top-20 player as a partner, so that I can enter bigger tournament. So, this is one-off. But if we do well, we would love to play together. In 2014, we parted ways only because we were not getting into bigger tournaments." With the Tokyo Olympics this year, it seems that both Bopanna and Qureshi are looking to get back in shape and qualify for the big event.

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Sania Mirza makes WTA return

Earlier this week, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza made a winning return to the WTA as she progressed to the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open alongside her partner Andreja Klepac. The Indo-Slovenian pair defeated the Ukranian pairing of Nadiia Kichenok and Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-4 6-7(5) 10-5 in the opening round. After a winning return, the former World No.1 will look to build on these performances and represent India at the Tokyo Olympics this year.

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