Confident of replicating past success: Bopanna

New Delhi: Rohan Bopanna, who changed five doubles partners in 2013, is a happy man after being reunited with his “good friend” Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi, with whom he played from 2003 to 2011.

“Aisam and I have a great understanding of each other’s playing style. It feels good to be pairing up with someone who I am friends with. We had a very good spell till 2011 and both of us are very confident of replicating our past success and also doing better than we did previously,” Bopanna told this paper on Saturday.

“We both share a strong hunger to win a Grand Slam title and that is an important factor that adds to our partnership,” the Davis Cupper added.

In the quest to feature in the 2012 London Olympics, Bopanna parted ways with Qureshi to join hands with Mahesh Bhupathi. Early on in the 2013 season, he split with Bhupathi and partnered Rajeev Ram, Marcelo Melo, Colin Fleming and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

“It was a tough year considering the number of partners that I had to change but I am happy with the way it eventually turned out. Reaching my career best rankings in the doubles at no. 3 and making the Wimbledon semi-final for the first time have to be the highlights of this year,” said the 33-year-old.

The pair, who reached the 2010 US Open final, will start their campaign with the Chennai Open.

“The experience of playing with different partners has only helped both of us improve our individual games so the main focus will be to bring that experience to the forefront of our partnership.

“Our preparations for the Chennai Open will start as usual in the last week of December.” Asked why he left Rajeev, he said, “Unfortunately post the Indian Wells Open in California, Rajeev lost a few points and his ranking dropped which made it impossible for us to qualify for tournaments played on clay prompting me to look for other options.” The Bengaluru lad, an ardent fan of Sachin Tendulkar, also got emotional when the latter gave his send-off speech at the Wankhede last week.

“Sachin is an iconic figure. At such a young age he was a revelation. I remember my first meeting with Sachin in Bengaluru. I got to spend some time and have dinner with him and it was an honour to see how humble and down to earth he was,” Bopanna said.