Bryan brothers a finals fixture

Bob and Mike Bryan are breaking all kinds of doubles records around the world, including those at Grand Slam level. Now it seems any records they break are their own. In the Men's Doubles Final at the 2012 Aus Open, they would face a new pairing - old doubles stager Leander Paes and competent doubles exponent but also renowned singles player Radek Stepanek.

Men's doubles at this level is a game you need to keep a careful eye on because it is quickfire stuff, with several volley exchanges at the net exciting the crowd.

The Bryan twins opened well for the Americans holding safely, and the Czech/Indian combo replied in kind. The serve looked on track for a simple hold in the fourth game before from 15-40 down the Bryan receivers pressed hard, and following one of those famous net exchanges gained a break point. Cool in the crisis, the break was averted but the game took another number of points before being declared safe by authorities. 2-2

Not bad - we beat them without racquets!

Good returns from Stepanek on the Bob Bryan serve made it 30-30, and another return from Paes brought up break point. Mike had enough of this and put away the next shot at the net. The twins held for 3-2.

Stepanek for the non doubles specialist had been playing some of the best tennis so far and his service game to level it at 3-3 impressed. Leander Paes was out to restore Indian pride following the failure of the cricket team losing its test series against Australia. Radek Stepanek was disappointed that he was the only Czech player to reach any final, after Hopman Cup winners Petra Kvitova and Tomas Berdych left their events prior to their respective big ones.

Bob's next service game was a pronounced improvement and the last point a beautiful put away from Mike to seal it. 5-4 the twins.

Stepanek's awesome reflex forehand winner highlighted his service game to love and 5-5 saw the odds of a tiebreak shorten even further. Mike enjoyed a love game of his own, and now Leander had the task of forcing the first set into a tiebreak.

Third straight game without a point against serve and the 6-6 scoreline meant? You guessed it the old tiebreak. After so many successive points on serve, it was rather surprising to see the first two points go against the serve, in fact four of the first five. Bryan's down 1-4.

Quality overhead from Stepanek gave the United Nations team a 5-1 lead with one more serve to come from Paes. The return was hit out and 1-6 faced Bob at the line. Stepanek's poise from the back of the court won the first of Bob's serves and he wasn't required to deliver any more because the set was gone 7 points to one in the breaker. Unseeded Paes/Stepanek ahead 7-6.

The second set trended dramatically away from the Bryan's with the opening service game comfortably being held by the increasingly confident Paes and Stepanek before the unforeseeable break of the Bryans. Paes then held for consolidation reasons, before Mike endured the pain of his twin brother falling behind 0-30. The rhythm and cohesion had left the pair.

Recovery began with some effective serving and the game was saved leaving the harder task of the match to be rescued. 3-1 the lead to the composite team.

A little tight at 30-30, Leander put away a smash to keep the breathing space. 4-1 the lead and an upset looming. At deuce on Bob's serve things looked dangerous but a spectacular pass and a solid serve won the game and kept the brothers in touch at 2-4.

A glorious return winner from Bob brought the score to 40-30 on the serve of Paes and another pass up the line by the same twin made it deuce. From the back of the court, Bob gave Radek a constant battering at the net until the Czech player folded and break point ensued. Paes saved with a difficult volley causing the error. This he followed with a standard serve volley point to take the advantage and a Stepanek volley took it to 5-2.

The pressure on Mike as he served to stay in the match was too intense and 15-40 came in a flash. One good serve saved one match point but a double fault put a halt to everything except the absolute joy displayed by the 2012 Australian Open Men's Doubles Champions Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek. The Bryans had a rare off night but will feature in all the big events this year, and at the business end of each of them. Tonight was all about the unseeded Leander and Radek.