Kuala Lumpur:

Veteran Indian star Leander Paes, who skipped Asian Games to get some valuable ranking points, vindicated his decision by lifting the ATP Malaysian Open with new partner Marcin Matkowski, here today.

The fourth seeded Indo-Polish pair rallied to beat the second seeded Briton-Australian combo of Jamie Murray and John Peers 3-6 7-6(5) 10-5 in the summit clash.

It was Paes’ first title of the season during which his ranking plummeted to 35 from top-10. This win will give Paes 250 ranking points and USD 25065 as prize money.

The 41-year-old had ended runner-up at Washington with Australia’s Sam Groth in July in the first final of the season.

“In a match like that, especially in the final, the margins between winning and losing are very small. What I really like about Marcin’s game after playing with him this week is that he is a student of tennis. On the court, he’s always looking to improve,” Paes said after the win.

“We didn’t play our best tennis in the beginning today. We were playing a team that were very confident. They don’t give you much rhythm. But then when we were down, we found our groove and it was pretty much a different story then,” the Indian added.

In the 2013 season Paes had won two titles, including the US Open with Radek Stepanek.

Matkowski said, he was “happy to play with Paes.

“He’s a great player. We’ll try to play a few more tournaments in the fall, in the indoor tournaments in Europe. We’ve enjoyed a very good start and we look forward to continuing this way,” he said.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Sports> Tennis / PTI / September 29th, 2014