Divij Sharan claims fifth career title, wins St Petersburg Open doubles

India's Divij Sharan on Sunday claimed his fifth ATP career title after winning the St Petersburg Open doubles crown, partnering Igor Zelenay of Slovakia here. The Indo-Slovakian got past Italian pair of Matteo Berrettini and Simone Bolelli 6-3 3-6 10-8 in tie-breaker in the hard-fought summit clash that lasted for one hour and 17 minutes.

This is Divij's second title of the season after winning the Maharashtra Open in Pune earlier this year. An ecstatic Divij dedicated the title to his mother on her birthday.

"It took a while to realise we actually won the match. It was so sudden. I would like to dedicate this win to my mother as it is her birthday today," he said. Divij said strong bonding between him and his partner did the trick for them in the marathon title clash.

The Indian also said he was happy for his partner Igor, who clinched his maiden ATP title here. "We grew stronger as a team match by match. We were really positive in every situation and I think that really helped us. We had each other's backing especially when we were down," Divij said.

"It's actually Igor's first ATP title, so it's a great result for him." Analysing Sunday's final, Divij said: "It was really a close match and we came back well in the tie-break. Berrittini was serving 6-3 and we came up with two really good returns.

"And then the last two points were really close as well."