Maharashtra Open: Joao Sousa clinches singles title, defeats Emil Ruusuvuori in final

Joao Sousa continued his brilliant run in the Maharashtra Open 2022 as he clinched his first singles title since 2018 at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Sunday.

Portuguese star defeated Finnish youngster Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6 (11-9), 4-6, 6-1 in a hard-fought summit clash.

Regarded as the best Portuguese player of all time, the former World No.28 Sousa, once again proved his mettle when he kept his cool despite an intense first two sets to win the third clinically. It was also Sousa's fourth ATP title in his career.

Earlier in the day, star Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan produced a scintillating display to clinch the doubles title. The Indians defeated Australia's Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 10-6 to claim their second ATP title together.

It was Bopanna's 21st doubles title, and second in Pune after having won it in 2019, playing alongside Divij Sharan. The fourth edition of South Asia's only ATP-250 event is being organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association.

"A lot is to do with experience, which you really bring in, years and years of experience and the biggest thing is my body is feeling very very good at the moment. I did a lot of yoga which has helped me tremendously. It has made a difference and that really shows as long as I am playing matches, competing and doing something that is physically appealing," the former World No. 3 doubles star Bopanna said after the match.

"I just have to work on a few things on court and just keep competing at this level as much as I can which will improve my game and automatically the ranking," the 27-year-old Ramkumar added.

( With inputs from ANI )