Newport: Veteran Leander Paes could only match his season’s best performance as he lost a fiercely-fought semifinal alongside partner Marcus Daniell at the ATP Hall of Fame Open here Sunday.
Paes and his Kiwi teammates, seeded third, lost 6-3, 6-7(8), 9-11 to the unseeded combo of Marcel Granollers and Sergiy Stakhovsky.
With his semifinal appearance he became the oldest ATP Tour semi-finalist since John McEnroe (47) at 2006 San Jose. He is likely to get to 72 from75 when new rankings are issued.
It is the fourth time this season that Paes has reached the semifinals on the ATP World Tour, reaching the same stage at Lyon (May), Marrakech (April) and Montpellier (February) in the first half of the season.
With 766 tour wins, Paes is sixth on the all-time doubles match victories. He is just one of six players to pick up 750 tour-level doubles match wins, which he achieved in April 2018.
PTI
