Bhupathi picks up Pilot Pen doubles title

In a morale-booster ahead of the US Open, Mahesh Bhupathi and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic have won the men's doubles title at the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven.

The top-seeded duo, who hadn't dropped a set all week, made short work of no. 4 seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the final, beating the Polish pair in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

The facile win gave Bhupathi his second doubles title this season and 41st overall. The title at New Haven comes 10 years after he first triumphed there in partnership with Leander Paes.

Earlier this month, the 33-year-old Indian had also struck gold at the Montreal Masters with Czech partner Pavel Vizner.

Interestingly, the Pilot Pen title was the first win for Bhupathi in partnership with Zimonjic. They had played together sporadically in the past - a total of four tournaments in seven years.

The Bangalore-based Bhupathi is currently ranked 20 on the ATP doubles list.

There could be more good news in store for India from the Pilot Pen tournament. Sania Mirza is partnering Italy's Mara Santangelo for a shot at the women's doubles title against top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber.