Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek's US Open title march

Leander Paes of India smashes watched on by partner Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic during their men’s doubles final against Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil on Day 14 of the 2013 US Open. Paes and Stepanek defeated Peya and Soares 6-1 6-3. (Getty Images)

New York, Sep 9 (IANS): India’s Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek, who won the US Open title beating Austrian Alexander Peya and Brazilian Bruno Soiares in straight sets in the final, won four of their earlier rounds in three sets.

Paes and Stepanek won their first round in straight sets, but were stretched to three sets in each of the next four matches, which included a titanic semi-final against the top-ranked doubles team in the world, the Bryan twins – Bob and Mike Bryan.

In the process, they ended the Bryans’ dreams of completing the ‘Grand Slam’ by winning all 4 majors in a single year.

Here is the road to the championship taken by Paes and Stepanek:

Final: Beat second seeds Alexander Peya (AUT) and Bruno Soares (BRA)- 6-1, 6-3

Semi-final: Beat top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (USA)- 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

Quarterfinal: Beat 5th-seeds Aisam ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) and Jean Julien Rojer (NED)- 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4

Third Round: Beat 14th-seeds Nicolas Mahut and Michael Llodra (FRA)- 7-5, 4-6, 6-3

Second Round: Beat Daniel Brands (GER) and Philipp Oswald (AUT)- 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

First Round: Beat Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) and Dmitry Tursunov (RUS)- 6-4, 7-6