Bjorkman and Mirnyi claim Masters Cup doubles title

SHANGHAI, Nov 19 (Reuters) Swede Jonas Bjorkman and his Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi won the Masters Cup doubles title with a 6-2 6-4 victory over on Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor today.

The second ranked pair won the first four games of the match and never looked back, picking up another break in the seventh game of the second set and running out easy winners for their first Masters Cup title as a pair.

''We saved the best til last, and we couldn't have finished the year better than this way,'' said Bjorkman, who also won the world championship in 1994 with compatriot Jan Apell.

''We just played probably the best match of the year.'' They shared a prize of 220,000 dollar having gone unbeaten through the tournament for the top eight partnerships of the year and 34-year-old Bjorkman picked up his 50th career doubles title.

Bahamian Knowles and Canadian Nestor, who had already lost to Bjorkman and Mirnyi in the group stage, were also looking for their first Masters Cup title in eight appearances at the tournament.

REUTERS PM ND1436