Paes one win away from ending title drought

India’s Leander Paes and his German partner Andre Begemann made it to the finals of the St Petersburg Open by recording a straight-set victory over the Russian pair of Mikhail Elgin and Alexander Kudryavtsev in the men’s doubles event.

The Indo-German duo defeated the Russian pair 6-3 7-6 in a match that lasted around one and half hours.

Paes and Begemann won the first set in a canter in just 35 minutes. However, the Russian pair came from a break back 0-2 down in the second set as they raced to a 5-2 lead.

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However the veteran Indian and his German partner then won five consecutive games to wrap up the set 7-5.

Paes had last won an ATP men’s doubles title, along with South Africa’s Raven Klaasen, in the 2015 New Zealand Open.

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