Damm-Lindstedt Win Auckland Doubles Title

© Getty ImagesMartin Damm and Robert Lindstedt teamed up to win the Heineken Open title.

Top seeds Martin Damm and Robert Lindstedt picked up the first title of their young partnership, defeating No. 2 seeds Scott Lipsky and Leander Paes 7-5, 6-4 in one hour, 14 minutes in the Heineken Open final on Saturday in Auckland. The Czech-Swedish duo broke their opponents once in each set while saving all three break point opportunities faced.

"To play against Leander is always tough. He’s one of the best in the history of the game, obviously with one of the quickest hands there," said Damm. "You have to just stay focused and we saved a few games where we were down, and then I think we served unbelievable throughout the match, especially Robert made a lot of aces. I was just trying to put first serves in because the wind was really blowing strongly. We just stayed focused throughout the match and we took our chances on the break points – that was the key."

The two were playing together for the second time after making their debut at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament last week in Brisbane, where they reached the quarter-finals.

Damm, 36, improved to a 38-20 record in ATP World Tour doubles finals by winning his first title since February 2008 at Marseille (w/Vizner). He has now won an ATP doubles title for 17 straight seasons. Lindstedt, 31, picked up his fourth doubles title (4-3 final record) with a fourth different partner. He last titled in August 2008 at Washington (w/Gicquel). 

"Obviously it is a great confidence boost," said Lindstedt. "I still thought coming out and playing our first week in Brisbane we showed some good things – we had a really tough second round. But from the practice here, I feel like we’ve just stepped it up every match and it’s a really good start to our campaign. I think we raised the game every match. If we play like we did today or the matches before, I’m very positive about Melbourne."

Paes and Lipsky were playing together for the first time this week. The 35-year-old Paes, who teamed up with Damm to win the 2006 US Open doubles title, was attempting to notch his 500th career doubles match win in Saturday’s final. He was playing in his 67th ATP World Tour doubles final (40-27 record) and Lipsky his sixth (1-5 record).