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Lee-Hesh miss Aus Open title again

By The Assam Tribune

MELBOURNE, Jan 29 (PTI): The Australian Open trophy continued to elude Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi as the re-united �Indian Express� could not stop Mike and Bob Bryan from scoring a hat-trick of titles at the Melbourne Park here today.

The third seeded Indian pair, which united after nine years with an aim to complete their career Slam, lost 3-6 4-6 to the top seeded American twins in the summit clash of the men�s doubles event which lasted a little over one hour.

The Bryan brothers won their fifth Australian Open trophy but it slipped out of the hands of Paes and Bhupathi for the second time, having lost the title clash back in 1999.

They reached the final here with different partners after separating but neither of the two players could complete the career Slam.

Paes made the final with Czech Republic�s Martin Damm in 2006 while Bhupathi ended runners-up with Bahamas� Mark Knowles in 2009.

However, it is a fabulous start for the Indian pair in the 2011 season as they had won the Chennai Open early this month.

Paes and Bhupathi last played at a Grand Slam together in 2002 when they lost in the second round.

Bhupathi said he would continue playing with Paes in the remaining season.

�There is a reason why Mike and Bob are number one team. When they have a first serve percentage of 83, it is impossible to beat them. I thank my partner (Paes), it took the best team in the planet to stop this train. Looking forward to playing with you a lot more this year,� Bhupathi said.

In today�s final, the Bryan brothers dominated as they served well and were miser on the unforced errors� count but had the Indians converted the break chances in the very first game of the match, it might have been different.

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