Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic went down fighting to number one seeds Mike and Bob Bryan in the final league match of the Tennis Masters Cup doubles in Shanghai on Thursday.
The fifth seeds, who became the first team from the Red group to qualify for the semi-finals on Tuesday, lost 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(7) to the American pair in the third match of the tournament.
With the victory, the Bryan twins ended the year as the number one doubles team.
After losing the first set, Paes-Zimonjic recovered to take the second set but the Bryan brothers proved their temperament by clinching the third set 9-7 in the tie-break.
The two teams advanced to the semi-finals of the year-ending event.