Paes-Raymond enter mixed doubles final

Second seeded Leander Paes and Lisa Raymond entered their first US Open mixed doubles final on Wednesday, defeating the third seeded American pair of Kimberly Po-Messerli and Donald Johnson.

The Indian/American pair won the semi-final match against the all American team 7-6(7-3), 6-4 to enter the first Grand Slam final, after their Wimbledon triumph way back in 1999.

The match was closely fought by both the pairs, with the Indian/American pair staying ahead most of the time.

In the first set, the Indian/American pair broke the American pair in the second game to go up 2-0. But a couple of double faults by Paes in the fifth game saw them losing the lead.

Paes/Raymond fell back losing their serve in the ninth game, but the duo quickly won four straight points off Johnson's serve in the 10th game to stage a come back.

In the tie-breaker, Paes/Raymond won four points in a row from 3-3 to take the set.

In the second set, Paes/Raymond went ahead in the seventh game taking a break off Kimberly's serve, and cruised to a win after that to enter the finals.

The duo will face the top seed Australian pair of Todd Woodbridge and Rennae Stubbs in the final. The top seeds defeated the fifth seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Ellis Ferreira of South Africa 6-3, 6-4 in the other semi-final.

Earlier report:
Paes-Raymond in semi-finals
Paes-Raymond in round three