Chennai Open: No seventh heaven for Leander Paes

CHENNAI: Seven is probably not Leander Paes' lucky number. The Indian pro, along with South African partner Raven Klaasen, lost to Yen Hsun Lu and Jonathan Marray 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the doubles final on Sunday.
This is the first time that Paes, who was gunning for his seventh title, lost a final here. Of his six previous wins five have been with Mahesh Bhupathi as partner. In 2012, Paes won the title with Janko Tipsarevic.
Lu won his first doubles title here in 2005 and was runner-up in 2010. For Marray, it was a maiden win here.
The Indo-South African duo began the match on a rusty note and were broken in their opening service game. Paes and Klaasen looked clearly out of sorts early on and conceded the first set 3-6. Coming into their own in the following set, they up the ante and pressed hard.
But it was just not enough. With no break of serve coming through, affairs spilled to a tiebreak. Tied at 2-2, Paes lunged to the net and placed a delicate drop shot well beyond his opponents' reach to sneak a point.
Following an engaging rally, Lu hit a wild smash which the senior India pro met with a woeful forehand slap which went wide to help Lu-Marray go level yet again. The match was beginning to slip away. Lu-Marray then went on the offensive to take the tie break and left the crowd favourites reaching for their towels.
Terming the match as a "tough loss", Paes reflected, "In the first set we struggled and just couldn't place the ball. We knew if we could get the ball in, we had our chances, but they didn't allow us any room. By the time we recovered, the set was over. The second set was tighter and it was their winning a couple of points more that eventually made the difference."
He, however, was quick to pin it to the obvious challenges that comes with a new partnership, "It's a new partnership. Game wise, we know that there's nothing major that we need to work on. The more we keep playing, it will only get better."
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