PUNE: Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan claimed their first title together on Saturday by winning the $82K Morelos Open in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
The Indian combination defeated second seeds Piotr Matuszewski of Poland and Matthew Christopher Romios of Austria 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the final of the ATP Challenger hard-court tennis event.
It is Jeevan’s 33rd career title and Arjun’s 19th, and will be a big boost for both as they started pairing at the start of the season.
Jeevan will move up five places to 127 in the latest rankings and Arjun 13 spots to 102 after their victory.
“It feels great to win a title, always. It is true I have come close to winning a title in the last couple of years but fell a little short, but it makes this victory that much sweeter,” said Jeevan, whose trophy cabinet includes the 2017 ATP Chennai Open silverware won in tandem with current World No. 2 Rohan Bopanna.
The title run in Cuernavaca was all the more remarkable considering the third seeds were coming off the US Clay Court championships in Houston last week.
“Yes, the conditions in Mexico were fast and quick because there is a little bit of altitude in most cities where Challenger events are held. The conditions did help Arjun’s and my style, and we definitely took advantage of our opportunities this week,” said the 35-year-old southpaw.
The Tamil Nadu lad has tasted success with different partners since switching focus to doubles in the mid-2000s, and said having a similar mindset and vision was the key to his partnership with Arjun.
“What makes it tick with Arjun is that we are both hungry to get better and some good guidance from Raven Klaasen (head coach for the Indian players under the Doubles Dream of India programme) has definitely made us better as a team,” he said.
Jeevan has had a career-high ranking of 64, which came in March 2019 and marked a key milestone during a phase when he played in all the four Grand Slams — beginning with the US Open in 2018 and culminating with the Wimbledon in 2019.
He, however, agreed he has matured as a player since then.
“Yes, you could say that I am wiser and more experienced now. I feel that if anything I am more ready now to accept that, ‘yes, it was great to play those Grand Slams and be in the big tournaments’ but I am trying to have a vision now of not just being in the Grand Slams when I get back there but also make a run in the slams and go deeper in those tournaments,” said Jeevan.
“I know it takes small steps at a time and a Challenger title always sets the tone, a good platform to build a good season on.”
The Indian combination defeated second seeds Piotr Matuszewski of Poland and Matthew Christopher Romios of Austria 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the final of the ATP Challenger hard-court tennis event.
It is Jeevan’s 33rd career title and Arjun’s 19th, and will be a big boost for both as they started pairing at the start of the season.
Jeevan will move up five places to 127 in the latest rankings and Arjun 13 spots to 102 after their victory.
“It feels great to win a title, always. It is true I have come close to winning a title in the last couple of years but fell a little short, but it makes this victory that much sweeter,” said Jeevan, whose trophy cabinet includes the 2017 ATP Chennai Open silverware won in tandem with current World No. 2 Rohan Bopanna.
The title run in Cuernavaca was all the more remarkable considering the third seeds were coming off the US Clay Court championships in Houston last week.
“Yes, the conditions in Mexico were fast and quick because there is a little bit of altitude in most cities where Challenger events are held. The conditions did help Arjun’s and my style, and we definitely took advantage of our opportunities this week,” said the 35-year-old southpaw.
The Tamil Nadu lad has tasted success with different partners since switching focus to doubles in the mid-2000s, and said having a similar mindset and vision was the key to his partnership with Arjun.
“What makes it tick with Arjun is that we are both hungry to get better and some good guidance from Raven Klaasen (head coach for the Indian players under the Doubles Dream of India programme) has definitely made us better as a team,” he said.
Jeevan has had a career-high ranking of 64, which came in March 2019 and marked a key milestone during a phase when he played in all the four Grand Slams — beginning with the US Open in 2018 and culminating with the Wimbledon in 2019.
He, however, agreed he has matured as a player since then.
“Yes, you could say that I am wiser and more experienced now. I feel that if anything I am more ready now to accept that, ‘yes, it was great to play those Grand Slams and be in the big tournaments’ but I am trying to have a vision now of not just being in the Grand Slams when I get back there but also make a run in the slams and go deeper in those tournaments,” said Jeevan.
“I know it takes small steps at a time and a Challenger title always sets the tone, a good platform to build a good season on.”
