Unseeded Swede Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley of Australia captured their second ATP World Tour team title on Saturday evening, beating second seeds Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.
The match was over in just 57 minutes, much to the disappointment of Dubai's large Indian population. It was Hanley's second Dubai title, following his 2006 triumph with Kevin Ullyett.
Holder Novak Djokovic was leading Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-5 2-0 in the singles final when a rainstorm intervened.
The match was initially halted due to a sudden downpour, with the Serb 40-15 up in the opening game of the second set.
Play resumed 32 minutes later only for another deluge to stop the final again. Play will continue on Sunday at 1400 local time.
"I'm extremely happy," said Aspelin. "I think Paul and I have started the year good. We've been playing well, and playing with a lot of confidence right now. And in a big tournament like this here in Dubai, it's great to win."
Aspelin and Hanley shared $113,450 in prize-money and earn 500 ATP World Tour Doubles Rankings points. Dlouhy and Paes split $53,320 and 300 rankings points.
A net-rushing Paes was jammed up by a terrific forehand return from Aspelin at 30-40 in the third game and Aspelin-Hanley won four of the next five games, dropping just three points on serve, to clinch the first set in 26 minutes.
Dlouhy led 40-15 in the fifth game of the 31-minute second set, but he hit three successive double faults. Hanley confirmed the service break with a hold to 15 for a 4-2 lead. Two games later, Dlouhy handed victory to Aspelin and Hanley with his eighth double fault of the match.
Dlouhy and Paes, finalists at the Brisbane International in January, dropped to 3-5 in team finals. It was Paes's fourth final appearance at The Aviation Club, highlighted by title successes in 1998 (with Mahesh Bhupathi) and 2003 (with David Rikl).
"[We] didn't play our best tennis today," admitted Paes. "I felt that we got off to a bad start again. The last three days I've started off really poor. I lost my first service game today, yesterday and the previous day.
"Today, [we] just lost to a better team. They played solid. They're good doubles players, so they read the game of doubles well. They cover the spots well. Today we didn't get enough balls on court. We didn't get enough returns in court [and] didn't get enough volleys on court."
