Paes helps Washington extend winning streak in WTT

Playing on the US hard-courts in a fun-and-games tweaked tennis tournament may not be an ideal tune-up for the highly competitive London Olympics, to be played on Wimbledon’s grass, but success may just get Leander Paes in a winning frame of mind.

Playing on the US hard-courts in a fun-and-games tweaked tennis tournament may not be an ideal tune-up for the highly competitive London Olympics, to be played on Wimbledon’s grass, but success may just get Leander Paes in a winning frame of mind.

The 39-year-old helped his team, Washington Kastles, to its 23rd successive victory at World Team Tennis (WTT) on Wednesday night.

Paes and partner Anastasia Rodionova beat Sacramento Capitals' Mark Knowles and Yasmin Schanck 5-3 in the deciding mixed doubles fixture of the night.

WTT features five one-set matches - men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. A player takes a set by winning five games first or, if the score is 4-4, winning a 9-point tiebreaker.

The Kastles, who topped the visiting Capitals 21-19 on Wednesday, have not lost a WTT match since July 22, 2010. Midway into this season, the Washington team sits atop the Eastern Conference standings with seven out of seven wins.

Meanwhile, Paes and Kastles' teammate Bobby Reynolds are the most successful male duo in WTT, having claimed 28 of 42 games this season. The Indian is playing for the Kastles for the fourth season and helped them to the championship in 2009 and 2011. He was also named the League's Male MVP (Most Valuable Player) in 2011.