WTT Washington Kastles

Paes Plays for Men's & Mixed Titles This Weekend

Published on January 27, 2012 under World TeamTennis (WTT)
Washington Kastles News Release


History will be on the line for both teams when Leander Paes of the Washington Kastles and Radek Stepanek play five-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan of the Kansas City Explorers in the Australian Open men's doubles final.

The match can be seen live on the Tennis Channel and WatchESPN.com on Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. DC time.

Paes, a two-time WTT MVP with the Kastles, also has the opportunity to clinch his third Australian Open mixed doubles title with a third different partner. Paes and Russian Elena Vesnina, seeded fifth, will go head-to-head in the final against No. 8 seeds Horia Tecau and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

That match will air live on the Tennis Channel and WatchESPN.com late Saturday night/early Sunday morning at 12:30 a.m. DC time.

The Kastle co-captain enters the weekend with six men's and six mixed doubles titles at the majors. Should he and Stepanek upset the top-ranked Bryans, Paes will complete the career Grand Slam in men's doubles, having won one Wimbledon, two US Open and three French Open championships.

To make that dream a reality, Paes and Stepanek must overcome one of the greatest doubles teams in tennis history. The Bryan twins are typically at their best at the Australian Open, where they have won 23 consecutive matches and three straight titles.

With a win on Saturday, the Bryans would break a tie with Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde and clinch a record-setting 12th Grand Slam title as a team.

More often than not, Bob and Mike Bryan have gotten the better of Paes since their first meeting on tour in 2001. Though Paes has nine career wins with six different partners over the Bryans, the world No. 1s are 5-0 in finals and 3-0 at the Australian Open against the Kastles' star.

Even Paes and Stepanek, playing their first Slam and fourth tournament together, have already endured disappointment twice at the quick hands of the Bryans. The Indo/Czech pair is 0-2 lifetime against the brothers and 11-0 against all other teams.

But in Melbourne, the unseeded Paes and Stepanek have shown chemistry and camaraderie far beyond their experience, even developing a unique double high-five to celebrate their winners. Of their five victories at the Australian Open, four have come against seeded opponents, including triumphs over No. 3 Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic and No. 2 Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor.

If Paes and Stepanek shock the Bryan brothers on Saturday, they will be the first team in the Open Era (since 1968) to defeat the No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 seeds en route to the Australian Open title.

Paes also has the chance to become the first player since Woodforde in 1992 to win both the men's and mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open.

Now 7-0 lifetime alongside Vesnina, Paes will have experience on his side in the mixed doubles final against Tecau and Mattek-Sands. Neither the Romanian Tecau, nor the American Mattek-Sands, has ever won a Grand Slam title.

Through the semifinals, Paes had yet to lose a set in both men's and mixed doubles. But in both semifinal matches, the Indian conceded the first set before rallying his team to a three-set victory.

After Paes and Stepanek dropped serve twice in the opening set against Mirnyi and Nestor, the Indo/Czech team outserved and outclassed the No. 2 seeds to earn a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win on Thursday.

Paes and Stepanek made 72 percent of their first serves in the match, while the Belarusian/Canadian pair landed only 48 percent of theirs. The Kastle and his new partner were also accurate once the rallies started, committing only five unforced errors in three sets.

In Friday's mixed doubles semifinals, little separated Paes and Vesnina from their Italian opponents Daniele Bracciali and Roberta Vinci. The unseeded Bracciali and Vinci pushed Paes and Vesnina to a match tiebreak before falling 5-7, 6-2, [10-7].

How each team defended their second serves proved to be the difference in the match. Paes and Vesnina won 61 percent of the points when they missed their first serve and 62 percent of the points when Vinci and Bracciali missed theirs.

With two chances to add to his growing legacy this weekend, Paes is seeking his first Grand Slam title since he won the mixed doubles championship at Wimbledon with Cara Black in 2010.

Vika in Singles Final, Playing for World No. 1

As co-captain of the Kastles last season, Leander Paes played mixed doubles alongside fellow Grand Slam champions Rennae Stubbs and Venus and Serena Williams. He also finished the 2010 WTT season on a four-set winning streak with a 20-year-old newcomer named Victoria Azarenka.

Seventeen months later, Azarenka defeated defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday to reach her first-ever Grand Slam singles final.

In the biggest match of her young career, Azarenka will meet 2008 champion Maria Sharapova for the championship on Saturday morning at 3:30 a.m. DC time live on ESPN2.

To add to the stakes, the winner of the Azarenka/Sharapova showdown will rise to No. 1 in the WTA singles rankings on Monday.

Though the two women have split their six career meetings, Azarenka defeated Sharapova in the only two finals that they've played -- on the hard courts of Stanford in 2010 and Miami in 2011.

Vika, as Azarenka is known to her fans, arrived in Washington for the final four Kastles' matches of 2010 with no titles on the season and a world ranking of No. 18.

Struggling with her motivation at the time, she built on her experience as a Kastle and has never looked back.

Azarenka won the first tournament she played following the WTT season, and has captured six titles overall since she donned a red-and-blue uniform. Along the way, she reached the singles semifinals of Wimbledon and the women's doubles final of the Australian Open in 2011.

Already in 2012, the big-hitting Belarusian is 11-0, having won the warm-up event in Sydney with a victory over reigning French Open champion Na Li in the final.

While you're watching Vika and Leander this weekend, be sure to visit the Washington Kastles on Facebook and Twitter and comment on the action in Australia.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



World TeamTennis Stories from January 27, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central