Xavier Malisse continued his hot streak at the Chennai Open, following up his singles triumph by claiming the doubles title with fellow Belgian Dick Norman on Sunday.
Malisse-Norman downed wild card entrants Rafael Nadal and Bartolome Salva-Vidal 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in a pulsating final at the SDAT Nungambakkam stadium.
Earlier in the day, Malisse beat Stefan Koubek of Austria 6-1, 6-3 to capture his second career singles title.
After a close semi-final on Saturday, Malisse and Nadal continued the battle being the dominant partners it their respective teams. The Belgians' solid tennis was able to get the better out of the flashy Mallorcans, who misfired on important points.
With all the players keeping their serves, it boiled down to two tie-break sets and the Belgian duo handled the pressure better that the 20-year-old Spaniards.
Salva-Vidal's serve failed him at the crunch; he served a double fault and then put in a weak serve as the team went from 4-4 up to 4-6. A service winner from the tall Norman sealed the match for the Belgians.
Nadal, winner of the doubles title with Tommy Robredo in 2004, had to return empty-handed in his first event of the year.
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