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Paes-Black wins Wimbledon mixed doubles London: India’s Leander Paes and Zimbabwe’s Cara Black won the Wimbledon mixed doubles titles, overpowering Wesley Moodie of South Africa and American Lisa Raymond 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) here Sunday. The second seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair, who were the runners-up here last year, took nearly two hours to seal their second Grand Slam of the year and their third title overall. Paes and Black won the Australian Open title in January and the US Open in 2008. Paes and Black will earn 92,000 pounds between them, while the runners-up take away 46,000 pounds. With this victory, 37-year-old Paes, surpassed his one-time doubles partner and compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in winning the most Grand Slam titles for India. Paes now has six doubles and six mixed-doubles titles, one more than Bhupathi, who has won four doubles and seven mixed doubles title. Paes has lifted the Wimbledon mixed doubles trophy twice previously - with Martina Navratilova in 2003 and Raymond in 1999 - while Black won it with brother Wayne in 2004. Paes also won the 1999 men’s doubles title here with Bhupathi. It looks like age has still not caught up with Paes, who showed sharp reflexes at the net and came with some stunning returns to surprise Moodie and Raymond. Black, who initially struggled with his serve, was swift with her backhand returns and the two combined well for a convincing win. Paes and Black took just 37 minutes to win the first set that saw five breaks of serve, four of them coming in the first five games. The second seeds broke Raymond’s serve in the seventh game and Black held on to nose ahead 5-3 before Paes served out the set. The second set was a close affair with the match going with the serve. Moodie and Raymond gave a strong fight to Paes and Black and took the set to the tie-breaker. Paes and Black held their nerves in the tie-break before the Indian sealed the match with a volley. It turned out to be another successful outing for Paes and Black, who have reached five Grand Slam finals winning three titles in two years. Paes and Black had beaten Czech ninth seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Iveta Benesova to reach the finals while 11th-seeded Moodie and Raymond beat 10th seeds Marcelo Melo of Brazil and Rennae Stubbs of Australia for a place in the final. Moodie won the 2005 men’s doubles title here, while Raymond won the 2001 ladies’ and 1999 mixed doubles titles. Back |
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