US Open champions Leander Paes and Martin Damm failed in their bid for back-to-back Masters titles, halted in their stride by Mike and Bob Bryan in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday.
The second seeds beat the Indo-Czech duo 6-7 (7), 6-3, 10-7 in the final to maintain their lead atop the ATP Doubles Race.
Paes-Damm were attempting to become the first team since Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor in 2002 to capture back-to-back Masters Series titles in Indian Wells and Miami.
Playing their fourth final of the year, the sixth seeds were in the lead throughout the first set, though they let the American twins sneak back thrice. After breaking the Bryans in the seventh game, they were unable to consolidate their lead, and dropped serve in the eighth game.
In the tie-break, they took an early lead of 3-1, only to see their opponents draw level. Paes then double-faulted on set point at 7-6, but the team fought back to win the tie-break 9-7.
The American duo achieved a double break in the second set (seventh and ninth games) to force the final into the match tie-break.
Paes-Damm fell back early, going down 3-7. Though they fought back with a mini-break on the 13th point, they were unable to stop the Bryans from taking the tie-break 10-7.
The winning duo pocketed US $185,000, while the runners-up picked $106,000.
Paes will next lead the Indian team in the Davis Cup tie in Kazakhstan from April 6 to 8.
