Rohan Bopanna and Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi are all set to pair up again

It is well known that sequels generally do not yield the same level of success. Anyway, this is the second instance that Rohan Bopanna hopes will be quite eventful or even better compared to the first.

Remarkably, the world No. 5 doubles player confirmed on Sunday that he will partner Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan in 2014, reviving the partnership that was brought to an end all of a sudden two years ago.

Undoubtedly, both Bopanna and Qureshi, who are pursuing the remaining spots in the next month's ATP World Tour Finals in London, is scheduled to appear together on the same side of the net from January onwards.

Remaining oblivion in the initial years, the combo commenced their career by recording massive wins in the second half of the nineties. Of course, their on-court performances continued to improve and the Indo-Pak Express' popularity extended beyond tennis off-court. Both of them were spotted as ambassadors of peace between the two nations and after some time dubbed as the 'Peace Pair'. More than that, they were awarded the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award for their campaign of 'Stop War, Start Tennis' during the 2011 US Open.

Towards the end of that year, the Indian decided to conclude the successful partnership with Qureshi and partner with ace tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi with an eye on the Olympics. Following their separation, both Qureshi and Bopanna have improved as players. No doubt, Bopanna is at present the highest-ranked Indian doubles player. On the other side, Qureshi holds the 15th rank in the world. After almost 8 years with Qureshi, the Indian has played with eight different partners this year.

He opined that that is not an ideal place where one wants to enter when they are amongst the top 5 in the world rankings. He added that the 2nd half of the year has been definitely better for him and that is because of the fact that he played with one partner across consecutive tournaments.

On the other hand, Qureshi has stability in terms of teammates, which counts little as he too has seldom succeeded in the majors. Notably, Bopanna believes in playing separately with various partners which has given him a better edge on his game, while Qureshi backs this observation. Qureshi quoted in a Pakistani daily that it is going to be interesting as both of them have matured as players.

Bopanna commented that the decision to reunite with his 'old friend' was an easy one to accept. He admitted that Aisam and he are both aware of the obvious pros of their game and in addition are conscious that their styles compliment each other very well. Anyway, Bopanna did not make any lofty claims, stressing more on consistency.

He signed off by mentioning that it is a tough starting the year all over again as well as gelling with his partner. Certainly, Grand Slams are the target but the key is to perform consistently but not just in patches.