Qureshi and Rojer: New Doubles Tennis Team Rounding into Form

The top-seeded doubles pairing of Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer are into the finals of the ATP World Tour event in Halle, Germany.

It's a situation Qureshi and Rojer wouldn't have found themselves in last year—with each other, at least.

The two are playing their first season together and are coming from very successful partnerships in previous years. Qureshi famously teamed up with Rohan Bopanna of India. The "Indo-Pak Express" advanced to the finals of the U.S. Open in 2010 and last year made it to the season-ending championships.

Rojer and his former partner, Eric Butorac, almost got to the World Tour finals, just missing out on the last spot. That team made the semifinals at the Australian Open in '11 and won multiple titles.

However, all good things must come to an end, it seems. Bopanna, in a push for the Olympics, wanted to play with countryman Mahesh Bhupathi for 2012. Qureshi then turned to Rojer, and the player from the Netherlands Antilles chose to go with Pakistan's top player.

The team didn't immediately gel, but after a few months, they've firmly established themselves as a top-level doubles team. They're coming off a semifinal showing at the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the season, and now they find themselves going for their second title of the year.

Both are solid all-court players and play a classic doubles game, relying on strong serves and good hands around the net. Their grass-court campaign couldn't have gotten off to a much better start, and if they keep it up, Qureshi and Rojer can be poised for a good run at Wimbledon.