Paes-Damm upset top seeds; moves into finals in Pacific

Indian Wells, California, Mar 17 (UNI) Leander Paes and Czech partner Martin Damm pulled off an upset victory over reigning world number one pair Jonas Bjorkman-Max Mirnyi to storm into the finals of the the 3,169,600 million dollar Pacific Life Open here.

The Indo-Czech duo out-fought the top seeds 6-2, 6-7 (5) in a well contested match that went all the way to the tie-breaker.

Fifth seeds Paes and Damm began on a strong note, taking the first set with relative ease--six games to two but were made to toil hard in the second set as Bjorkman and Mirnyi stepped up the gas.

However, it was Paes and Damm who held their own in the crucial moments to emerge triumphant in the second set which stretched into the tie-breaker.

This is the thrid time the formidable pair has entered the finals during the current year. The Paes-Damm pair ended up runners-up in the Qatar Open in Doha and last month clinched the ATP doubles event at Rotterdam.

The Indo-Czech pair is in sizzling form throughout the tournament as they had set up a showdown with Bjorkman-Mirnyi after triumphing 6-3, 7-6 (4) over fourth seeds Paul Hanley of Australia and Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett in the quarter-finals of the tier I tournament.

Paes and Damm should now back themselves to clinch the title when they meet sixth seeds Israeli pair Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the finals.

The Israeli duo won in straight sets against seventh seeds Austrian pair Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 7-5 in the other semi-finals match.

UNI