Paes-Tipsarevic win doubles crown in style
CHENNAI, India, Jan. 8, 2012 - Indian ace Leander Paes won the Aircel Chennai Open 2012 doubles crown for the sixth time - this time around with Serbian Janko Tipsarevic - as a full-house Centre Court crowd enthusiastically egged on the third seeded pair.
Paes and Tipsarevic defeated Israeli fourth seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-4, 6-4 in the 17th edition of India's only and South Asia's leading ATP World Tour event at the SDAT-Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium on Sunday.
Tipsarevic, ranked world No. 9 in singles, lost a draining, marathon three-hour and 16-minute singles final to Canadian Milos Raonic, but took the court again within an hour to win the first Tour doubles title of his career.
"I played singles before and I know how hard it is to play two finals on the same day," Paes, ranked 8 in doubles, said. "He (Tipsarevic) epitomizes professionalism and he is an inspiration for all budding athletes and young kids everywhere," added Paes, who won the first five titles in Chennai along with Mahesh Bhupathi.
"I wanted him to win the singles and I am glad I could help him end the tournament on a winning note."
Tipsarevic said his pre-season preparation helped him a lot.
"I worked very hard during the pre-season and the results speak for themselves," Tipsarevic said.
"It is a disappointment to lose the singles but winning my first doubles title more than makes up for it. I never had a partner like Paes who reads the game very well. I might have played my shots but it was he who controlled proceedings. His experience and knowledge of the game, helped me to play my shots better," the Serbian added.
"His experience also means that he is not afraid to question my game and strategy and if there is some problem, he will also voice his opinion. We talked about playing more events and if we get a chance we will hopefully win more events in 2012. This win, though exhausting is going to help me a lot for the Australian Open."
