Second straight title for Mahesh Bhupathi

Winning four matches in straight sets to win his second tournament on the trot, doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi showed he's still a force to contend with on the tennis court.

Bhupathi partnered Mark Knowles of the Bahamas to beat third-seeded Czechs Martin Damm and Pavel Vizner 7-5, 7-6(7) in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships final on Saturday.

The victory got Bhupathi his 43rd career doubles crown and a share in the $89,500 prize money for the winning pair, who had also triumphed in Memphis last week.

Bhupathi is ranked 18 on the weekly ATP ranking list and is expected to move up when the new rankings are released on Monday. As a pair, Bhupathi and Knowles are currently placed second in the ATP Doubles Race.

"It's no secret. Obviously our games compliment each other. I enjoy playing on the advantage court. Both of us are pretty hungry to win. Me personally, I haven't had a full-time partner for about two years now so the opportunity to play with someone as good as Mark is exciting for me and I have been working pretty hard," Bhupathi said after the final.

"We've been friends for 15 years even though we haven't played together, everything matches and we're looking forward to carrying on the form," he said.

Bhupathi has won the Dubai title twice before - with Leander Paes (1998) and Fabrice Santoro (2004).

After an ominous 2008 debut in Sydney, where they bowed out in their opening match, Bhupathi and Knowles had reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January and the quarterfinals at San Jose last month. They are now 13-3 for the year, having won their last eight matches in straight sets.

Sania Mirza to keep date with Dubai

Despite bowing out with cramps during her Qatar Open match on Tuesday, Sania Mirza is expected to play at the Tier-II tennis tournament in Dubai next week.

The Indian no. 1 had been on her way to victory over Olga Govortsova of Belarus, but could barely keep herself from falling over while serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

At 2-3 in the final set, the 21-year-old Mirza fell down on the baseline and could not continue. She later withdrew from the doubles event as well.

"Thankfully, the injury is not serious. The doctors described it as cramping due to bilateral lower extremity fatigue," her father Imran Mirza told the Indian Tennis Blog.

"She should be playing in Dubai next week."

Sania had been playing her first singles match in nearly four weeks after being sidelined with an adductor muscle tear sustained during the Australian Open. During this period, her only outing on the court was in a Fed Cup doubles rubber where she helped India avoid relegation.