Johannesburg -Veteran doubles duo Leander Paes and Zimbabwes Cara Blacks victory in the Australian Open underlined them as one of the most successful mixed doubled team to play the sport.The couple on Sunday won the Australian Open 2010 mixed doubles title with a straight-sets victory over Ekaterina Makarova and Jaroslav Levinsky at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday. Paes, of India, and Black took the match 7-5 6-3 in 68 minutes against the unseeded pair, who were appearing in their first Grand Slam mixed doubles final. Paes and Black now have 19 doubles (mens, womens and mixed) between them.
For 36-year-old Paes, the win marked his 11th Grand Slam title, bringing him level with Mahesh Bhupathi as Indias most successful Grand Slam player. The victory was solace for Black, the result coming just two days after Black and her womens doubles partner Liezel Huber lost the womens doubles final against Serena and Venus Williams.
Meanwhile, Makarova of Russia and Levinsky of the Czech Republic fought hard to claim two service breaks in the first set, but the top seeds broke their serve on five occasions throughout the match, emerging on top in a tight first set and racing to the victory in the second. The first set was notable for five service breaks as both pairs struggled to settle into the match early on.
After exchanging two service breaks each, Paes and Black broke Makarovas serve to go 6-5 ahead and then closed out the set with a solid game, taking it 7-5 in 36 minutes. The top seeds jumped ahead early in the second set, breaking in the first game and holding to go ahead 2-0. They could easily have been 3-0 ahead but for a gritty service game by Makarova, who pulled the game back from 15-40 to hold. Paes powerful winners at the net and Blacks solid service games kept the experienced duo a break ahead in the set, and at 5-3 they broke again, claiming the set 6-3, and with it, the championship.
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News