Bhupathi, Knowles falter at final hurdle in Madrid Masters

India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowels of Bahamas lost to the Polish pair of Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg 4-6, 2-6 in the doubles final of Madrid Masters.

It is the first ATP Masters Series title for the seventh seeded Poles, who finished runners-up to Bob and Mike Bryan here last season.

The victory gave seventh-seeded Matkowski and Fyrstenberg their second ATP title of the season Sunday. They were in fine form and knocked out second seeds and Wimbledon champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the quarterfinals. They saved three match points in their semifinal win over Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie.

Fourth seeded Bhupathi and Knowles were chasing their third ATP title of the season after triumphing at Memphis and Dubai, but ran out of steam in the finals.

The Poles got one break in the ninth game, which was sufficient to seal the opening set.

They quickly built on their advantage, to take a 2-0 lead in the second set. Bhupathi and Knowles fought back to level 2-2, but their opponents went on to break serve twice more in the fifth and seventh games to secure victory after one hour.