Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri won his first ever ATP Tour title, pairing up with South Africa’s Lloyd Harris to win the men’s doubles title at the Mallorca Open in Spain on Saturday.

Bhambri and Harris came up with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the experienced pair of Dutchman Robin Haase and Austria’s Philipp Oswald. By winning the ATP 250 event, Bhambri, who made a permanent switch to doubles last year, is now expected to go up to a career high ranking of world No 58 when the leaderboard is updated on Monday.

“First ATP title is definitely a dream,” Bhambri said after the match.

“When you grow up, this is what you dream about playing, competing at the big events. Since I made the switch to doubles last year, it’s been a tough journey but very rewarding. I’m so happy and glad that all the hard work that I have been putting in over the last year and a half is finally paying rich dividends.”

The Indo-South African duo won the title without dropping a set. A scratch-pair, playing together for the first time, they beat the all-Austrian team of Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 6-3, 6-2 in the first round, followed by a 6-4, 6-4 win over fourth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the second round.

In the semi-final they beat the top seeds, Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Mexican player Santiago Gonzalez 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Incidentally, this was not the first time Bhambri was winning a title in Mallorca.

“Really happy to be winning again in Mallorca,” he said.

“I won the Challenger here in August last year and to come back and win the ATP title, my first ATP title, it’s been incredible.”

The 30-year-old and his regular partner, compatriot Saketh Myneni have not made the Wimbledon cut just yet in the men’s doubles, as they are sixth in the alternates list. But the win now puts Bhambri in a better position to get into bigger events going forward.