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Paes-Damm stumble in final of Qatar Open
The third seeded pair of Paes and Damm get defeated 1-6, 6-7 (3-6) by Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Serb Nenad Zimonjic.
Defending champions Leander Paes and Martin Damm of Czech Republic suffered a heart-breaking upset defeat at the hands of an unseeded pair in the $1 million Qatar Open ATP tennis doubles final on Saturday.
The third seeded pair of Paes and Damm were defeated 1-6, 6-7 (3-6) by Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Serb Nenad Zimonjic, in the season-opener, a build up to the Australian Open Grand Slam.
A total of eight break of services were witnessed during the match with Paes-Damm, the reigning US Open champions recording three breaks and Youzhny-Zimonjic five.
Paes had also won the trophy in 1998, with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.
Youzhny, a Doha doubles runner-up in 2005, won his second career ATP doubles title, while Zimonjic claimed his 14th.
"This is a great start to the New Year. I was without my partner (Fabrice Santoro) but I am happy to have won with Misha," Zimonjic said.
"We are sort of undefeated because this is only the second time we are playing together and we had to retire in St. Petersburg last year when we were winning. We just got better as the week went on, just like the weather," he added.
