Bhupathi-Bopanna crashes out, Paes sails into 2nd round

Paris, May 29: India witnessed a mixed outing in the men's doubles event of the French Open as Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out in the first round even as veteran Leander Paes and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer eased into the next stage, here.

Seeded fourth, Bhupathi and Bopanna had a forgettable outing at the Roland Garros last night as they were stunned 5-7, 4-6 by unseeded Polish combination of Tomasz Bednarek and Jerzy Janowicz. The Polish pair took just 76 minutes to dispose off the highly-rated Indian duo who looked completely out of sorts.

Bednarek and Janowicz will now face the winner of the match between Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand and Italian combination of Paolo Lorenzi and Potito Starace. However, veteran Leander Paes gave Indian fans something to cheer about when he and Melzer notched up an easy straight-set win in the opening round.

The ninth seeded Indo-Austrian duo took little less than an hour to get the better of local pair, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Renavand 6-3, 6-3. Paes and Melzer will next play the winner of the game between Carlos Berlocq and Leonardo Mayer of Argentina and Uruguan-Argentine combination of Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos.

PTI