DOUBLES QUALIFIERS

Martin Damm & Leander Paes

Doubles veterans Martin Damm and Leander Paes will be appearing in their second consecutive Tennis Masters Cup.

Last year, the two reached the semifinals where they fell in a battle of three tie-breaks to eventual champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi.

The Czech-Indian duo made a quick start to the second full year of their partnership with a runner-up finish in Doha (l. to Youzhny-Zimonjic) and the title win in Rotterdam (d. Pavel-Waske).

In March, they clinched their team’s first ATP Masters Series title at the Pacific Life Open (d. Erlich-Ram) and took their winning streak to the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, where they were defeated by the top-seeded Bryans in the final.

Damm made back-to-back appearances at the Tennis Masters Cup in 2003-04 with then-partner Cyril Suk, while Paes finished as the 2005 runner-up in Shanghai with Nenad Zimonjic.