Seventh seeds Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer stumbled at the final hurdle at the Paris Master, going down 6-7, 3-6 against Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna.

As a result, fifth seeds Bhupati and Bopanna won their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, sharing € 142,500 in prize money and bagging 1,000 ATP Doubles Team Rankings points. Fellow Barclays ATP World Tour Finals qualifiers Qureshi and Rojer received €69,780 and 600 points.

“The match could have gone either way, but I felt we played really well on the big points,” said Bhupathi.

“At this level, at this stage of any big event, that is what counts.”

According to the ATP, Bhupathi, 38, has now won 16 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies, while Bopanna clinches his second shield. Last year, Bopanna and Qureshi won the Paris title.

Qureshi and Rojer, who saved two match points in a 17-15 Match tie-break second-round win over Feliciano Lopez and Nenad Zimonjic, were playing their third ATP World Tour final together (2-1). Qureshi drops to 7-8 in title matches and Rojer to 7-9.

Qureshi sounded upbeat despite the defeat.

“Making it to the London Masters was my aim for the year and I have achieved it,” Aisam told The Express Tribune.

“It’s my second year in the ATP London Masters. The top eight teams are competing and I have proved my worth. It was with Bopanna last year and this time around Rojer will get to play his first World Tour so I am excited for both of us.”