Another Slam for Paes

This was Paess ninth Grand Slam title,but his first mens doubles Slam in nearly three years the last one he won was in 2006 at Flushing Meadows with another Czech player,Martin Damm. The 35-year-old has earlier won the trophy at Roland Garros in 1999 and 2001 with Mahesh Bhupathi.

Inspired comeback

On Saturday,the third-seeded Indo-Czech pair,who had taken out top seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic to reach the final,didnt let a first-set loss deter them. They roared back with intention in the second set,racking up a 5-0 lead before their opponents attempted to begin a comeback of their own,but it was cut short as Paes and his volleys often left Norman and Moodie with no option but to stare helplessly at each other.

With the momentum on their side,they again broke their rivals twice in the third set in the third and seventh games to complete the victory. After the final point,Paes raced up to the stands to hug his former mixed doubles partner Martina Navratilova,who was part of the audience. Paes has won four other mens doubles major titles,but with two other partners. Norman,38 years old,ended on the losing side today,but managed to get his name in the record books as the oldest French Open mens doubles finalist in the Open era.