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More of the same for doubles ace Reneberg

Seven days after disposing of a couple of Russians in the Davis Cup, Richey Reneberg and his doubles partner met up with another one yesterday.

The result was the same, a little less emotional and nearly as difficult.

Reneberg, this time teamed with American Doug Flach, turned aside wild card entry Andrei Chernakov and his partner, Rodolphe Gilbert of France, to capture the XL Bermuda Open doubles crown, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

When playing with Todd Martin, Reneberg was battling for his country. Last night, it was for his share of $6,200 -- not bad scratch but not quite the same intensity.

"It's been a little draining,'' he admitted. "All week, I've felt a little tired. But then sometimes you play better in that situation.'' And Reneberg certainly played well in his first trip to Bermuda. He arrived as the number two singles seed and lost in the semi-finals to Lucas Arnold, beating MaliVai Washington along the way. He and Flach, himself knocked out of the singles in the second round, were seeded third in doubles and met in the final an unlikely duo who knocked off top seeds Luke and Murphy Jensen a day earlier.

Surprisingly, it was the first time Reneberg and Flach had played together.

They both live in Atlanta and practice together so the partnership was a natural one, Flach said.

Said Reneberg: "There were maybe a few problems at first but after the first match (a three-set win over Marcio Carlsson and Francisco Costa on Wednesday) we got used to each other.'' Their win, played through intermittent showers and dipping temperatures, took a little under two hours to play, keeping an ever-dwindling crowd at Centre Court until nearly 8.30 p.m. last night. But it was worth it. The teams reached deuce in half of the games and produced some ferocious net duels.

"On clay, the most important aspect of doubles is to be aggressive,'' said Reneberg, who played the ad side throughout. "Otherwise, the tendency is to sit back and just get the ball in play. That's when the other guys will really hit you off the ground.'' The first service break -- against Flach -- didn't come until the eighth game of the first set but the Americans rebounded. They built a 4-1 bulge in the second set, finally taking it when a couple of unforced errors, capped by Flach's winner down the line, broke Gilbert's serve. A lefthander, Gilbert was good for at least an ace a game. But Reneberg and Flach got to him in the sixth game of the third set, when Chernakov's wide volley made it 4-2.