Paes, Dlouhy win French Open men's doubles

India's Leander Paes celebrated a ninth Grand Slam doubles title before thanking former playing partner and 20-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova for boosting his career.

Paes teamed with Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic to capture the French Open title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium's Dick Norman.

It was 35-year-old Paes's fifth men's Grand Slam men's doubles title having won twice here in 1999 and 2001 with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, 1999 Wimbledon with Bhupathi and the 2006 US Open with Martin Damm.

He has also won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, including the 2003 Wimbledon and Australian Open trophies with Navratilova.

"Martina has been a soulmate for many years. We've been through a lot in life, especially me in the last eight years. She's been along with me, supporting me, guiding me at times," said Paes.

"When I was diagnosed with cancer and I couldn't play, she basically stayed away from the game and didn't play mixed doubles until I came back."

"Whenever I look at a person like Navratilova, she gives me a lot of inspiration. It was strange that just at the end of the second set when we were getting a bit nervous and a bit edgy, she came out there and was just making eye contact.

"Lukas served three doubles faults early in the third set. I told him at one point, Martina is out there. Come on. Have a look at her. She's inspiring us."

Paes also paid tribute to their opponents.

Norman, at 38, would have been one of the oldest major title winners had he succeeded.

"Dick and Wesley served really huge and made it difficult for us. They did a great job in getting to the final," said Paes who has now won 40 career doubles titles.

Paes and Dlouhy first teamed up at Roland Garros last year, losing in the last 16 to eventual champions Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna.

They then finished runners-up to Mike and Bob Bryan in the 2008 US Open final.

"We started playing together at Roland Garros last year. We lost then to the champions so we made it a point that we would come back and try and win it this year," added Paes.