Stanislas Wawrinka and Benoit Paire won their first ATP
doubles title together after defeating the German duo of Andre Begemann
and Martin Emmrich 6-2 6-1 in a Aircel Chennai Open 2013 final that
lasted just 56 minutes.
The unseeded French-Swiss
pairing completely dominated the contest, which was the sixth
all-unseeded doubles final in the history of the tournament, on the
basis of a strong return of serve which helped it to win 50 per cent of
the total return points. The German team played well at the net in the
opening set but more errors crept into its game as the match progressed
and it could eventually win only three of the 15 games played.
After saving a break point in the third game, Wawrinka and Paire proceeded to break Emmrich’s serve in the following when Paire followed up a rasping forehand with a double-handed backhand down the line to take a 3-1 lead. Three comfortable holds of serve later, Emmrich was the culprit again as he served two double faults to lose the game from a strong position at 40-15 and the set was won 6-2 by the French-Swiss pair. As the German duo took a toilet break before the beginning of the second set, Paire entertained the crowd with a wonderful display of keepie-uppie and gave a similarly pleasing display with the racquet later as Begemann was broken early for a 2-0 lead. The early break of serve seemed to sap the morale of the German pair and an easy hold for Paire put further pressure on Emmrich, who failed to do the same for the third time running.
A 4-0 advantage seemed decisive and, despite a minor aberration in the form of a comfortable service game for Begemann, it eventually proved to be so when Wawrinka’s angled shot from outside the court was unreturned by the former. Consequently, the Swiss and the Frenchman celebrated with a chest-thump as it was the duo’s first title success in four attempts, the previous three ending in a first-round exit.
The results: Final: Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) & Benoit Paire (Fra) bt Andre Begemann (Ger) & Martin Emmrich (Ger) 6-2, 6-1.
Semifinals: Wawrinka & Paire bt Raven Klassen (Rsa) & Nicholas Monroe (USA) 6-7(9), 6-4, 10-8.