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Bhupati-Paes triumph again

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati, ranked number five in the world in doubles, justified their top seeding at the $328,000 China Open ATP tournament, defeating former world champion Jim Courier and Alex O'Brien of the United States 7-5, 7-6 (9-7).

This is the duo's eighth doubles title, and their fifth for the year.

Earlier, Courier had claimed the singles title, defeating Magnus Gustaffson of Sweden in three sets 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

In the doubles final, Courier and O'Brien matched their higher ranked opponents till the tenth game, when the Indian pair came up with the vital service game before serving out for the first set.

The second set was dead even, all the way through to the tie break where Paes and Bhupati, holding on to their nerve, clinched the set and the match.

"The more we play together, the more we understand each other's game," said Paes. "I think that is the key to the kind of results we've been getting lately. Now we are in the top five, and our next goal is to become the world's best pair as soon as possible."

The pair will now travel to Singapore for the Open there, which has attracted a top field led by world number two Michael Chang. Paes and Bhupati plan on playing the doubles, where they are automatically seeded by virtue of their world rankings, and also the singles -- however, for the latter, both players will need to go through the qualifying rounds before making the main draw.