Indian veterans
Leander Paes and Mahesh
Bhupathi blew away a strong
start to make a shock exit
from the men's doubles event
of the Wimbledon
championships as they lost
the second round 6-2, 3-6,
7-6 (1) 4-6 to Arnaud Clement
and Lukas Dlouhy on
Saturday.
The third seed 'Indian
Express' pair dominated the
opening set but allowed their
unseeded rivals to make a
strong comeback.
The defeat means that Paes and Bhupathi
will now try to win their first Grand Slam
together after rejoining forces at US Open,
the last tennis major of the season.
The French-Czech pair broke the Indians
twice - third and ninth games - in the
second set to draw parity and then nosed
ahead by winning the third set via tie-
breaker.
The fourth set could not have started on a
worse note for the Indians as they dropped
serve in the very first game.
That mini lead was enough for Clement and
Dlouhy, a former partner of Paes, and it
provided further impetus to the momentum
gained by them and they closed it out easily.
The defeat of Paes and Bhupathi leaves
Somdev Devvarman the only Indian in the
men's doubles draw. Somdev, along with
Japanese Kei Nishikori, has already moved to
the second round.
Rohan Bopanna has also crashed out with
Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Quershi.