Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy staged a magnificent recovery to beat South Africa's Wesley Moodie and Belgium's Dick Norman and win the men's doubles title at the French Open on Saturday.
The third seeded Indo-Czech pair turned in a solid display after losing the first set to emerge 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 winners over their unseeded opponents in the final.
For 35-year-old Indian ace Paes, this was his third French Open doubles crown, having won the clay-court title in 1999 and 2001 with estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi. In the process, he swelled his Grand Slam collection to nine titles.
It is almost after a gap of three years that Paes won a men's doubles title at a major since winning the 2006 US Open with Martin Damm.
After losing the first set, Paes and Dlouhy staged a brilliant turnaround and overwhelmed Moodie-Norman, who had upset second seeded Americans Mike and Bob Bryan in the semi-finals.
An early break left Paes and Dlouhy trailing in the opening set. They got chances to break back but failed to convert any of the two breakpoints that came their way and that was enough for Moodie and Norman take the set.
Paes was hit on his eye when left-handed Norman sprayed a high forehand volley straight towards him. Fortunately, that did not cause him an harm and the Indian returned to court after receiving ice treatment.
The Indo-Czech pair then staged a remarkable comeback in the second set riding on a double break -- in the second and fourth games. They raced away to a 5-0 lead and it looked they would blank their opponents before Paes was broken when serving for the set.
However, the lead they had established was big enough to clinch the set and and take the match to the decisive third set.
As the momentum was on their side, Paes-Dlouhy broke in the third and seventh games of the decider to wrap the match comfortably.
