Paes-Bhupathi win, ‘Woodies’ next hurdle

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Sydney: Former world number one pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi showed their class as they pulverised the Romanian pair of Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu 6-3, 6-4 to begin their Olympic tennis doubles campaign in style.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Paes who lost his singles, but put it behind while playing with Bhupathi to win convincingly in just 70 minutes. ''It was good to get a winning feel,'' Paes said after the doubles game.

The indian duo, on whom the country pins hopes for a medal, will face the real test in the next round against the famed ''Woodies'' - Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia.

Playing their third tournament after almost nine months of separation, the most heartening feature of the doubles match was that Leander and Mahesh did not drop their service even once.

''That was a good part and should give a lot of confidence,'' coach Ramesh Krishnan, who had partnered Leander in the doubles in 1992 when they reached the quarter-finals, said.

UNI