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ATP Dubai Championships: Leander Paes got off to a magnificent start

ATP Dubai Championships: Leander Paes got off to a magnificent start
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By

Sohinee Basu

Published: 25 Feb 2020 3:28 PM GMT

Leander Paes along with his partner, Matthew Ebden got off to a magnificent start at the ATP Dubai Tennis Championships that are being held at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre. Paes and Ebden conjured magic and upset Australian Open 2020 semi-finalists and the second-seeded duo of Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 to storm into the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 event.

Leander Paes, at 46, is on his farewell tour and after having bid adieu to the Indian tennis tournaments, Paes is playing at Dubai for one final time. Nothing could have been more memorable for Paes than notching a spectacular victory against the second-seeded Croatian-Slovakian pair of Dodig and Polasek, in his first match at his last outing in Dubai.

Both Paes and Ebden have been playing quite well and they came into Dubai riding on the success of their finish as runners-up of the Bengaluru ATP Challenger. However, against Dodig and Polasek, the duo of Paes and Ebden were the clear underdogs at the outset of the match. Once the match began, it was a completely different story as the 18-time Grand Slam Doubles and Mixed Doubles Champion proved that he has a lot of tennis left in him as he aided Ebden in securing the stunning victory, 6-4, 6-3.

Through to the quarters of the tournament, Paes and Ebden will desperately want to hold on to this brilliant form. The competition will only get fiercer from the later rounds and it’s all-important that the Indo-Australian pair maintain this level of clinical accuracy and match-winning attitude. On his ‘One Last Roar’ tour, Paes would definitely be giving it his all as the legendary tennis veteran plays in Dubai for one last time.

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