Paes, Bhupathi to continue partnership in 2001

The formidable Indian tennis doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will continue to play together on the 2001 ATP tour.

Bhupathi announced this after the final of the ATP World Doubles Championship, which they lost to Donald Johnson (USA) and Piet Norval (South Africa) in three straight sets in Bangalore on Sunday.

The pair, which returned together after breaking away for a brief period earlier this year, played in only seven tournaments in 2000, winning the Tokyo Open in October. In all, they won 16 career titles in 23 final finishes.

They were the first team since Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgeman in 1952 to reach the final of all four Grand Slams in a single year, a feat they achieved in 1999, their best year yet. Bhupathi finished the year at number 2 individually while Paes was ranked the world's top doubles player. Now their ranking is 39 for Bhupathi and 85 for Paes.

Bhupathi, who played in front of his home crowd for the first time in his career, teamed up with Paes in 1994. Their first tournament was the Jakarta Challenger in which they reached the final. Their first ATP event was in Tokyo in 1995, where they lost in the first round.

UNI