Rohan Bopanna has confirmed that he will be teaming up with Mahesh Bhupathi for 2012 season, which effectively means his successful partnership with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has come to an end.

Leander Paes, who teamed up with Bhupathi — India’s most successful doubles pair — last season after a gap of nine years will have to find a new partner for the next season.

“As the season has ended now, I can confirm that I am playing with Mahesh (Bhupathi) in 2012,” Bopanna told The Indian Express on Sunday.

The Chennai Open, where Paes and Bhupathi had made a comeback last season, will be the tournament where Bopanna and Bhupathi will first play in 2012. “We have decided that our first tournament will be at Chennai where we will have great home support,” Bopanna confirmed.

However, the 31-year-old said that it was too early to say if he and Mahesh would be the first-choice combination India would field at the Olympics. Bopanna was also non-committal about their long-term plans. “As of now we have decided to start the year together. The Olympics have a lot of other technicalities (form, rankings) and we will see how it goes,” he said.

Bopanna also didn’t want to elaborate on the end of the successful Indo-Pak pairing, which won three titles this year and entered the final of the 2010 US Open. Meanwhile, Qureshi has announced that he will partner Dutch Jean-Julien Roger, ranked 20th in doubles, for the Australian Open. “Who I want to play with is my decision. I don’t think I owe anyone a justification of why I am deciding to partner someone or give explanations behind the thought for this partnership. Yes, I did have a successful year with Aisam but now I am starting a new year with Mahesh, and it’s as simple as that,” Bopanna said.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / by Smriti Sinha /Monday, Nov 28th, 2011