Canadian Nestor, partner Stepanek lose in Australian Open doubles

Jamie Murray, left, of Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil pose with their trophy after defeating Daniel Nestor, right, of Canada and Radek Stepanek, second right, of the Czech Republic in the men's doubles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, early Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016.(AP/Vincent Thian)

MELBOURNE, Australia - Canadian Daniel Nestor and new partner Radek Stepanek started strong but could not hold off Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares as the Scottish-Brazilian pairing earned a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win in the men's doubles final of the Australian Open on Saturday.

Toronto's Nestor, the 43-year-old iron man of the game, had been bidding for his second Melbourne title after winning 16 years ago with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas.

He now stands 1-4 in Australian finals over his career.

The Canadian, the only man to achieve more than 1,000 career doubles match wins, still owns eight Grand Slam doubles trophies and a record 88 titles overall.

Nestor and Czech Stepanek, aged 37, only teamed up this month in Brisbane, where they lost their first match together.