The Hindu : Sport : Bhupathi-Pierce duo triumphs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 05, 2005

Sport

Sport

Bhupathi-Pierce duo triumphs

Nirmal Shekar

London: Wimbledon 2005 ended on a high for India as Mahesh Bhupathi and Mary Pierce of France outplayed Paul Hanley of Australia and Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine 6-4, 6-2 in the mixed doubles final on Sunday evening.

Seemingly drawing inspiration from the Swiss master who had held stage earlier in the afternoon, Bhupathi and Pierce played almost flawless tennis to romp to a comfortable victory.

From the time she first stepped on court with the Indian, Pierce has been saying that playing with Bhupathi has been a very enjoyable experience. And, today, when it mattered, it was obvious that the America-based French-woman and the Indian doubles expert were an ideal pair, complementing each other superbly.

"We played some high quality tennis out there. We had tough teams in our half of the draw and we did not lose a set", said Bhupathi. "Mary has her singles commitments but we'd love to find a way to play together again".

Pierce, for her part, said, "I have a lot of respect for Mahesh as a person and as a player. He taught me a lot about doubles".

The victory brought Bhupathi his eighth career Grand Slam title and Pierce her first mixed doubles title.

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