Paes shows old magic with new partner

Teaming up for the first time ever, Paes-Stepanek won the title with a 6-0, 6-3 win over the top-seeded Argentine team of Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez on Sunday. Paes thus defended his title at Delray Beach, having won the event last year with Nenad Zimonjic.

For Paes this was title No 31 and the third win with a Czech partner, a roll that started when he won his first ATP title way back in 1999 (Singapore). Paes called it a ‘‘fantastic week’’. On the scratch combination — Paes’ fouth this year after playing one-off tournaments with Jonathan Elrich (Israel), Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) and Mahesh Bhupathi — Paes said, ‘‘more than anything I was pleased with the rhythm with which we played. We shared strengths and weaknesses. We complemented each other.’’

Three of the four titles Paes has won this year have come with partners varying from David Rikl (Halle and Gstaad), Bhupathi (AMS Canada) and now Stepanek. Ditto for Stepanek, with wins at Rotterdam (Paul Hanley) and at Stuggart (Jiri Novak).