Bryans seal third straight Melbourne doubles title

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan sealed their third straight Australian Open doubles title on Saturday after defeating India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes 6-3 6-4.

The Bryans have held the No. 1 ranking in doubles for the past eight years. They have also won the US Open three times and the French Open and Wimbledon once each.

The Bryan brothers, who won the Australian title in 2006, ‘07, ‘09 and last year, and have also been runners-up twice, didn’t lose their serve and broke the Indian team twice. They celebrated the win with their familiar chest bump.

The twins already hold the record for the most tournament titles of any men’s pairing in the Open Era, which they stretched to 68, seven better than retired Australians Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge.

They are also closing in on the “Woodies”’ collection of 11 Grand Slam trophies, and are within two of the Open Era record of 12 majors, held by another Australian pairing of John Newcombe and Tony Roche.

Bhupathi and Paes were a formidable combination, but their most recent previous Grand Slam tournament together was in 2002.

The Indian pair had been seeking a career Grand Slam, each having won the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon either together, or with other partners.

“We have tons of respect for those guys, they are legends, they are marquee, they can only make our game better,” Bob Bryan said. “It was just great to have the ‘Indian Express’ back on the doubles court. It was an extra special feeling out there.”

Paes said the Bryans played “the perfect match.” Mike Bryan later agreed.

“If they had not served 83 percent first serves, but maybe 76 percent, it could have maybe been a different story,” Paes said. “Today we lost to the best team on the planet.”

Bhupathi and Paes have had their differences over the years, but are committed to playing together for a while.

“We are committed to play a few more tournaments,” he said. “The way we are feeling, the way we are playing, I think there is a good chance we will come back next year.”