Klaasen-Paes' new partnership pays off as SA-India duo win first title

Veteran Indian tennis icon Leander Paes and South African tennis ace Raven Klaasen got of to an amazing start with their new partnership, bagging their first title in the second tournament together in the Auckland ATP Open on Saturday.

The duo recorded a comprehensive 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win over Great Britain's Dominic Inglot and Romanian Florin Mergea, which came in the wake of the pair's 6-4, 7-6(7/4) defeat against Jonathan Marray and Yen-Hsun Lu in the final of the Chennai Open last week.

Klaasen said that winning a tournament and reaching the final in the second of their two initial events together is something in the realms of a fairytale, Sport24 reported.

The Davis Cup stalwart said that he has always had the highest hopes that his pairing with Paes would become a stimulating success for him, but added that he never anticipated they could have got off to such a great start, considering that they had never played together before and doubles success in tennis has a great deal to do with knowing the way ones partner plays.

Klaasen claimed that he and Paes learnt a lot about each other in the Chennai tournament and they put it into good effect in Auckland, adding that he was more than happy with their overall performance.

Paes echoed the sentiment, saying that they performed as well as could have been expected and added that he loves playing with Klaasen. He said that they both play the game with great enthusiasm and energy and are helping each other on and off the court.