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| Leander Paes and Jurgen Melzer clinched the Shanghai Masters title |
Beginning their partnership on a fantastic note, Leander Paes and Jurgen Melzer clinched the Shanghai Masters title with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 victory over Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the final in Shanghai on Sunday. The third seed Austrian-Indian duo had ended the 20-match winning streak of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan en route to the summit clash. Paes, 37, won his second title of the season, and the 44th of his career. The Indian teamed with Lukas Dlouhy to win the Miami Masters earlier in April. "I have tremendous respect for Jurgen. I think that he's one of the most hard working and talented tennis players I've seen over the past 20 years that I've been on the tour," Paes said after wining the title. "He's beaten two No. 1's in the same week: Rafael Nadal (in the singles third round), then the Bryan brothers last night. For me it's a big honour to play with Jurgen. Not only is he a Grand Slam champion at Wimbledon this year, but I consider him one of the great talents in tennis and a good guy," Paes added.
"As Leander said, beating two No. 1's in the same week is great. But finishing it off with a title, it's my first title in a Masters 1000 event," said Melzer. The third seeds rallied from a break down at 4-5 in the first set to win the final three games and clinch a one-set lead. The sixth-seeded Fyrstenberg and Matkowski broke decisively in the ninth game of the second set to level the match, but quickly fell behind in the Match Tie-break as Melzer-Paes raced to a 7-1 advantage. It was a lead they would not relinquish as they went on to seal victory in 83 minutes. The 29-year-old Melzer won his third tour-level doubles title of the season, following wins at Wimbledon and Zagreb with Philipp Petzschner. He was also a runners-up in Bangkok with Jonathan Erlich two weeks ago. Melzer has already secured his place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with Petzschner, while Paes is in a strong position to qualify with regular partner, Dlouhy. They are currently No. 3 in the 2010 ATP Doubles Team Rankings.
"As Leander said, beating two No. 1's in the same week is great. But finishing it off with a title, it's my first title in a Masters 1000 event," said Melzer. The third seeds rallied from a break down at 4-5 in the first set to win the final three games and clinch a one-set lead. The sixth-seeded Fyrstenberg and Matkowski broke decisively in the ninth game of the second set to level the match, but quickly fell behind in the Match Tie-break as Melzer-Paes raced to a 7-1 advantage. It was a lead they would not relinquish as they went on to seal victory in 83 minutes. The 29-year-old Melzer won his third tour-level doubles title of the season, following wins at Wimbledon and Zagreb with Philipp Petzschner. He was also a runners-up in Bangkok with Jonathan Erlich two weeks ago. Melzer has already secured his place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with Petzschner, while Paes is in a strong position to qualify with regular partner, Dlouhy. They are currently No. 3 in the 2010 ATP Doubles Team Rankings.
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