Paes-Stepanek lose in Japan Open final

TOKYO, JAPAN – OCTOBER 06: Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic (R) and Leander Paes of India in action their semi final doubles match against Daniele Bracciali of Italy and Frantisek Cermak of the Czech Republic during day six of the Rakuten Open at Ariake Colosseum on October 6, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan.

Tokyo, Oct 7 – India’s Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek lost to Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in the men’s doubles final of Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships here Sunday.

For Peya and Soares it was the second ATP World Tour doubles title in as many weeks. The fourth seeds added the silverware to their Malaysian Open trophy with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win over top seeds Paes and Stepanek in an hour and 46 minutes.

Peya and Soares split the $91.030 in prize money and 500 ATP Doubles Rankings points, while Paes and Stepanek share $41,100 and earn 300 points.

Peya improved to 4-8 lifetime in ATP World Tour finals, while Soares is now 8-9 in titles matches. Paes, 39, dropped to 50-36 and Stepanek to 15-12.

Despite the loss, Paes and Stepanek clinched their first team berth at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London next week, after they booked a place in the Tokyo final.

Paes, 39, has qualified for the 13th time. He is a four-time former runner-up in 1997, 1999, 2000 (all w/Bhupathi) and 2005 (w/Zimonjic). The 33-year-old Stepanek will be making his debut.

This year, Paes and Stepanek won the Australian Open title, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (d. Mirnyi-Nestor) and were runners up at the US Open.