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BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALSNovember 12, 2012Mahesh BhupathiRohan BopannaLONDON, ENGLAND M. GRANOLLERS‑M. LOPEZ/M. Bhupathi‑R. Bopanna THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Just a few words about the match, how tough it was for you. MAHESH BHUPATHI: Well, for us, you know, it's always tough playing them. They're not a conventional doubles team. They make it very, very difficult in more ways than one, no matter who they play. We were expecting that. We've played them before. We fought. We fought hard to stay in the match. Got ourselves again into a tiebreaker. This time I think we just played a bad tiebreak. That sums it up. Q. Are you going to play together for the next season? ROHAN BOPANNA: No. We're playing with different partners for the next season. Q. Obviously, it's extremely disappointing when you get so far, having just made it into the event as well. Does it make it even more disappointing that it was a pretty close match up to that tiebreak or is a loss just a loss? MAHESH BHUPATHI: I mean, are you asking if I prefer to lose 2‑2? Definitely not. I mean, we fought hard, like I said. I was telling Rohan, Now I know how Lendl feels at Wimbledon, five times in the final but I haven't got the title here. Like someone said to us in the locker room, 15 days ago, we were fighting to make it here. We were the alternate team. If you told us we were going win Paris and make the finals of the World Tour Finals, we would take it. We played high quality. Hopefully, we can take that into next year with a lot of confidence, both of us. Q. And when you say Granollers and López are awkward, a bit different, can you be a bit more specific as to what makes them awkward and difficult to play? ROHAN BOPANNA: I mean, the way Mahesh said it, they're not just serve‑and‑volley players, traditional doubles players. They mix a lot. They stay back. They serve and stay back. They cross a lot. They hit different kinds of shots, which it's very tough. You're not sure whether they're going to come in or cross. I mean, a lot of different ways they play. I think it obviously makes it tough as a team. Q. In the first set, did you feel you were a little less aggressive than you normally are or is it just the way they play? MAHESH BHUPATHI: It's not easy to play them. When we play the normal doubles teams, we always have a target when we're returning, serving and volleying. These guys, they camp at the baseline when they're serving, they camp at the baseline when we're serving. Obviously, their strength is their speed and the way they hit the tennis ball from the baseline. We have to do things differently. We were just trying. I've played them three times this year. I think they've broken me maybe 10 times. It's not for the lack of not trying to do something different. That's their strength. That's what they do really well. Q. How much time will you take off after now and before things start? When will you get together with your new partners to start putting things together for next year? MAHESH BHUPATHI: Well, Rohan is getting married in 10 days. Till then it's only drinking and eating. I don't know, respective partners, I start in Chennai. ROHAN BOPANNA: Yeah, I mean, for me the next two weeks are going to be really hectic, especially as Mahesh said, I'm getting married. It's going to be a fun and good experience as what I've heard, so I'll let you know about that once it's over. With the new partner, yes, just before Chennai.  I'm playing with Rajeev Ram next year. He comes to Chennai every year. Just maybe a few days before Chennai we're going to start. Q. On the point of getting married, has it been a blessing in disguise that you won in Paris, you had to go all the way through to the end of Paris, then come straight here, so you've managed to avoid all of the hullabaloo of wedding preparations? ROHAN BOPANNA: I never had a wedding preparation before, so I don't know if I missed the good part or the bad part. There is still two weeks to go and enjoy it before we get to the big day. So looking forward to that. Tennis‑wise, we've had a great two weeks and can't complain about that. Happy to take all the positives from the tennis tour and now look forward to the new partnership coming up. Q. When you look back on 2012, what would you say has been the highlight and the most enjoyable part of the partnership? MAHESH BHUPATHI: I think for us, just believing in each other. There were times in the year where, you know, the pundits of Indian tennis threw us under the bus, said that we're not good enough, said that, These guys are jokers, in a diplomatic way. But we believed in ourselves. Three Super 9 finals, one Super 9 Masters title, World Tour Finals. We've beaten all the top teams there are to beat. We came through with flying colors, which I think is credit to us at the end of the day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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