New Delhi, January 27: Leander Paes reached his first final of the 2018 season along with American partner James Cerretani following an easy win in the semifinals of the Newport Beach Challenger event. Paes and Cerretani, seeded second, dispatched fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 10 minutes.

They will now fight it out with unseeded giant-killers Treat Huey and Denis Kundla for the title. Huey and Kundla had toppled top seeds Artem Sitak and Wesley. Koolhof and also third seeds Scott Lipsky and David Marrero enroute to the final.

Paes has won 24 Challenger level doubles titles in his illustrious career, during which he has won 18 Grand Slam trophies.