Paes, Bhupathi in dream win
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Chennai: Top seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi rolled back the years as they rallied brilliantly to overcome the Canadian-Swiss combo of Frank Dancevic and Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6 (8), 10-4 to enter the doubles second round in the Aircel ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament here in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Coming together on the pro tour for the first time in nine years, Paes, 37 and Bhupathi, 36, winners here four times, the last being in 2002, held their nerves while displaying some of their old magic to turn around a match that nearly got out of hand and win the one hour, 34-minute match that ended at 1.15 a.m.
Though Dancevic and Wawrinka possessed awesome power, especially in their serves, the delicate skills, beside the vast experience of the Indian pair eventually made the difference.
The decisive moments came in the second set tie-breaker when Dancevic's first serve deserted him while the Indians, trailing 2-5, raised their game with a touch of magic to push the match into the decider.
The pumped Indian pair, backed by vociferous crowd, then moved in for the kill with a series of classy volleys and well-placed aces to take the third set with a measure of comfort.
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