Third seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes claimed their first title of the season on Saturday defeating fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 6-2, 7-5 in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open here.
Dlouhy and Paes went up an early break to lead 2-0 and never let their opponents back into the first set. The team also grabbed an early lead in the second set, only to give it back when broken for 3-all. But Dlouhy and Paes, who was his typically aggressive self at the net, broke at 5-all and then served out the match.
“Playing with (Leander), it's always great because he has my back always. When I'm struggling with something, he's always with me on the same side and always tells me that nothing happened. We make it like a team. So it always helps you when you know that you are together, you are like brothers. That's the magic of the team, I think,” said Dlouhy.
Paes, who was winning his first title here after finishing runner-up in 2003 (with David Rikl) and in 2007 (with Martin Damm), said: What's great actually about doing well this week is there's no pressure now for the rest of the clay court season. We've got to a final in Brisbane and got to quarters at the Aussie Open. Now there's no pressure. Now we're just playing for cream on the top.”
This was Mirnyi's first loss in five finals at the event. He has won the title with three different partners — in 2003 with Roger Federer, in 2005 and 2006 with Jonas Bjorkman and last year with Andy Ram.
Clijsters triumphs
US Open champion Kim Clijsters beat Venus Williams 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday to win her second title in Miami.
“I felt from the beginning I was ready to go and really seeing the ball well,” said Clijsters, who claimed her third title since starting a comeback last year after more than two seasons away from the WTA. Clijsters, the 14th seed, also won here in 2005 — two years before she retired.
Now the Belgian, who married and had a baby during her break from the tour, will climb to No.10 in the world rankings next week, the highest ranking for the former No.1 since her return.
Her young daughter, Jada, was watching from the stands as the 26-year-old wrapped up the victory in just 58 minutes, lifting her arms in triumph when Williams sailed a forehand long on the first of three match points.
The top-ranked Serena Williams sat in the photographers' pit and cheered her sister, but Venus couldn't get her game on track. The third-seeded American, the champion in 1998, 1999 and 2001, finished with a total of 29 unforced errors and won only nine points in the second set as her usually dominant first serve let her down.
“It wasn't my best day,” said Williams, who had never lost a Miami final before. “She played extremely solid, but it's not like I was blown off the court. Unfortunately I was my own worst enemy.”
The results: Finals:Women: Kim Clijsters bt Venus Williams 6-2, 6-1. Men's doubles: Lukas Dlouhy & Leander Paes bt Mahesh Bhupathi & Max Mirnyi 6-2, 7-5. — Agencies
