Bopanna-Mergea clinch Stuttgart Open title

Indo-Romanian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea clinched the men's doubles title at the 574,965-euro Stuttgart Open on the grass courts of Tennis Club Weissenhof here on Sunday.

The fourth seeds took just an hour and 12 minutes to beat Austrian-Brazilian third seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 in the final.

This is the second title the two have won together, having won the clay court Madrid Open last month. This is 35-year-old Bopanna's fourth title of the year, having won two hard court tournaments in Dubai and Sydney with Canadian partner Daniel Nestor. This is also the Bengaluru-born's 14th career doubles title and second on grass.

Though the fourth seeds played well, Peya and Soares surged ahead just when it was required, winning the sole break point of the first set.

Bopanna and Mergea came back strongly to not allow even a single break point opportunity to their opponents while earning themselves three chances, converting two to win the second set and push the match into the decider.

Four aces in the super tie-break considerably aided Bopanna-Mergea's chances of winning the title as they easily went on to clinch the summit clash and boost their chances before the start of Wimbledon, the lone grass court Major, on June 28.

Nine aces from Bopanna and Mergea and five double faults at crucial junctures of the match helped the Indo-Romanian pair win the title. Overall, the fourth seeds won 64 of the 120 points played in the match.