Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek have won the 2012 Australian Open men’s doubles with a brilliant victory over the Bryan brothersYou can watch and bet on the action from the Australian Open live for free at bet365 > live tennisLeander Paes, at the age of 38, has completed a remarkable career grand slam of doubles titles. Teamed with Radek Stepanek, the Indian veteran secured a crucial win over the ever-competitive Bryan brothers, who had also been eyeing up a record of their own. A win here would have made them the doubles team with the most slam victories in tennis history.
“I know what this tournament means for him, because only this title was missing in his career Grand Slam so I’m happy that I can be by your side and it’s a great honour and fun to play with you,” said Stepanek to Paes after the matchup. Paes responded by remarking, “To my partner Radek, this is our first Grand Slam together, I’ve been in five finals, I’ve lost to the two brothers three times, thanks for putting me on your shoulder.”
Bob Bryan was disappointed to have lost, but remained upbeat in defeat. “It was tight early, I thought we were playing ok, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. “But I tip my hat to them, they played well. It’s nice to get a couple of cracks early, that’s a team that’s going to be around a lot in big stages.”
“I thought we’ve had a great Australian swing,” continued Bryan. It bodes well for the rest of the year. It was a hell of a trip to go 9 and 1 in Australia. A lot of fond memories. I’m going into the hospital on Monday, that’s going to be another battle.”
