Paes, Bhupathi showdown in US Open men's doubles final

The men's doubles final at the US Open will be a showdown between former partners Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy avenged the defeat they suffered in last year's final by beating Bob and Mike Bryan in the men's doubles semi-finals on Wednesday, while third seeds Bhupathi and Mark Knowles easily beat fifth seeds Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram in the other semi 6-4, 6-2.

Paes, who won the title in 2006 partnering Martin Damm is in the men's doubles final of the tournament for the fifth time.

In 1999, he and Bhupathi lost to Sebastien Lareau and Alex O'Brien, while in 2004 he and David Rikl were beaten by Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles in the final.

Paes is also in the mixed doubles title with Zimbabwean Cara Black. The second seeds scored a 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 triumph over fifth seeds Su-Wei Hseih of Chinese Taipei and Kevin Ullyet of Zimbabwe in the semi-finals on Tuesday night.

Paes and Dlouhy, who lost to the Bryan brothers 6-7(5), 6-7(10) in the title round last year, overcame a late charge by the No 1 seeds to emerge 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8-6) in a 111-minute encounter on the Arthur Ashe court.

The Bryans looked like emerging triumphant this time too as they rallied from 0-5 down in the third set tie-breaker. But Paes and Dlouhy stayed cool and clinched victory on their sixth match-point, Paes sending a volley down the middle that left the Bryans flat-footed.