Leander Paes, Purav Raja lift Knoxville Challenger title

The top-seeded pair fought hard in two consecutive tie-breakers to defeat the American-Australian duo of James Cerretani and John Patrick Smith 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 in men's doubles final.

Leander Paes and Purav Raja (Twitter image)

Tennessee: Indian tennis duo of Leander Paes and Purav Raja lifted the Knoxville Challenger title after clinching a fighting win in the finals of the men's doubles event here last evening.

The top-seeded pair fought hard in two consecutive tie-breakers to defeat the American-Australian duo of James Cerretani and John Patrick Smith 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 in the summit showdown of the USD 75,000 hard-court event at the indoor Goodfriend Tennis Center.

It is Paes and Raja`s first-ever title after joining forces in August this year.

Earlier, Paes won three Challenger-level titles this season pairing with Canadian Adil Shamasdin and American Scott Lipsky.

@Leander and @puravraja are the @KnoxChallenger doubles champions, 7-6, 7-6 over Cerretani Smith. pic.twitter.com/T7Hl9jApwa — KnoxvilleChallenger (@KnoxChallenger) November 12, 2017

Raja, before partnering with Paes, had sealed the Bordeaux Challenger title with Divij Sharan besides making it to the summit showdown of the Chennai Open.