Twins toast timely title in Australia

American twins Mike and Bob Bryan made it third time lucky as they secured their first Australian Open doubles crown in Melbourne.

Beaten finalists in 2004 and 2005, the 27-year-old top seeds scored a gritty 4-6 6-3 6-4 comeback victory over seventh seeds Martin Damm and Leander Paes.

“Unbelievable. I had nothing left in my body by the end of that match. It was so emotional,” said Bob Bryan.

“There was a lot of energy there, they were doing chest pumps, we were doing chest pumps. We were hanging on.

“We were down break points pretty much every game in the third. It was just pure relief and happiness and excitement at the end. Not many words can describe the feeling.”

Mike Bryan added: “I had every type of emotion. By the end there, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel, which was nice.

“You know, it feels good to get this notch because over the last two years, we came up a little short.

“But there’s nothing more special than winning a slam with your brother. So this is going to feel good for a long time.”

Regarded as the world’s best doubles combination at present, the US Open champions were always going to be tough to beat.

The powerful Czech Damm and the stocky Indian Paes put up an early fight to take the first set before the Americans found their form to secure the elusive silverware.