On Tuesday, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna had bowed out and a day later, Paes-Vardhan joined them. Paes and Vardhan fought a tough three-set battle before going down to the French pair of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 3-6 at Wimbledon court number 18.
Paes will, however, remain in the Olympics event for now as he will team up with Sania Mirza to play the mixed doubles.
After all the controversy over selection issues, Indians in the men's doubles competition will return home empty-handed. India's number one player Paes, playing in his sixth Olympics, was initially picked to play with Bhupathi for the doubles. However, Bhupathi and Bopanna revolted against the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and got their way to send them as a team.
In the end, there was no winner in the entire selection row.
Paes-Vardhan pair hit 41 winners against their opponents' 49. They had four aces but Tsonga and Llodra served 11 aces in the match that lasted more than two hours.
The first set was decided in the tie-breaker after 46 minutes. The Indian duo came back in the second with a 6-4 verdict in 42 minutes.
In the deciding set, Frenchmen achieved a crucial service break in the eighth game and served for the match in the next and clinched the issue in their favour.
OneIndia News
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