Hartford (Connecticut), Nov 22: For the second time in two months, Canadian Sebastien Lareau and American Alex O'Brien defeated top-ranked Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes for a major championship. Lareau and O'Brien claimed their first ATP Tour World Doubles Championship yesterday by making quick work of Bhupathi and Paes 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.The duo needed only 86 minutes to claim their eighth doubles title as a team and fourth this season. They posted a 7-6, 6-4 win over the Indians in September's US Open final. The victory meant Lareau and O'Brien would finish the year ranked second in the world behind Bhupathi and Paes.The Indians split 90,000 dollars for their performance in addition to receiving a 100,000 Dollars bonus for finishing No 1.It was a disappointing end to the season for Bhupathi and Paes, who also lost in the 1997 final to Rick Leach and Jonathan Stark.The Indians won three titles in 1999 and became the first team in 47 years to reach the final at all four Grand Slams. Theywere seeking their 16th doubles title together, and are 22-2 in Grand Slam matches in 1999 and 15-6 in career finals. ``It's a really nice way to finish the year,'' an elated Lareau said. He has now teamed with O'Brien to win eight titles and the fourth this year (Queen's, US Open, and Paris Open Super-9).They dominated the match with powerful serves, hitting 94 per cent of first serves in the third set. O'Brien, who has now won 11 career titles, said: ``We gained a lot of confidence in New York to beat these guys twice I just can't be happier. It was just one of those days where everything we did just worked out. We were on fire.'' They converted six of eight break points in the match.The Indians agreed that the key to the match was the serving of their opponents. ``They served a really high percentage and we didn't get many returns back. All in all, it was a really bad day,'' said Bhupathi. Rounding up the year, Paes said: ``We pretty much did well in only four tournaments luckily for us, they werethe four Grand Slams.''At the start, however, the match appeared to be in favour of the Indians, after they earned an early break. But Lareau-O'Brien quickly broke back to begin their run.While the Indians will remain as a team next year, Lareau-O'Brien will split up. In an effort to prepare for the 2000 Sydney Games, Lareau will partner countryman Daniel Nestor while O'Brien teams with Jared Palmer.With this, Paes is now 22nd among money earners with a total of $708,737 (around Rs 3 crores), while Bhupathi is 30th with a total of $618,004 (around Rs 2.5 crore).
