The Indo-Belarusian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi defeated the duo of Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Andy Ram of Israel 7-5, 7-5 to claim the Paris Masters doubles title here on Sunday.
This was the first title for duo since 2004 following a string of seven Tour-level titles in the period from 2002 to 2004.
Soderling takes title
Meanwhile, Swedish fourth seed Robin Soderling secured the singles title with a 6-1, 7-6(1) victory over French 12th seed Gael Monfils.
Earlier, in Saturday's late singles semifinals, Roger Federer failed to break his Paris Masters jinx when he fluffed five match points in a 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 defeat to local favourite Gael Monfils.
Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, had five match points in the deciding set's 12th game but Monfils saved them all to force a tiebreaker he won 7-4, ending the contest with a service winner after two hours, 41 minutes.
“He's someone I admire a lot,” Monfils said about Federer. “He's a legend of tennis, THE legend, and beating him is a beautiful victory. I will remember it for my whole life.”
Federer had a 5-0 record against Monfils before their semifinal.
In the first tiebreaker, Federer fired an ace at 6-5 down to erase a set point then hit a forehand winner for a 7-6 lead.
But Monfils replied with a service winner to level at 7-7 before a wide service return from the Australian Open champion gave Monfils a set point that he converted when Federer netted a forehand.
Federer bounced back by winning five straight points to take the second set.
In the third, Federer broke for a 2-0 lead on an unforced error from Monfils.
“I guess I had control over it in the third, went a break up,” Federer said.
Disappointment
“That's a disappointment there. It's a tough match to lose.”
Federer dropped serve in the seventh game with a wide forehand and Monfils snapped a backhand winner to level at 4-4.
Despite the defeat, Federer remained upbeat about the end of his season.
“In a way it is a relief that I was able to finish the tournament in good physical health,” Federer said. “I'm fresh mentally, too.
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