India's doubles exponents Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi failed to get a measure of Australians Stephen Huss and Ashley Fisher and bowed out 6-7(7), 4-6 of the second round of French Open men's doubles here Saturday.

The third-seeded Indians could not break the Australians even once during the 92-minute clash. Huss and Fisher, on the other hand, were nimble-footed and sharp with their groundstrokes.

They dominated the frequent net sparring and also served better, double-faulting only once in the entire match while the Indians had four of them.


India's Mahesh Bhupathi (right) and Leander Paes during Saturday's
French Open second round match against Australia's Ashley Fisher and
Stephen Huss. PIc/ AFP

In the first set, both teams served strong to enforce a tie-breaker. The Indians had two set points but failed to convert. A superb backhand volley by Huss gave the Australians their first set points and they sealed the set when Bhupathi's forehand sailed long. Huss and Fisher carried the momentum in the second game and broke Paes' serve in the seventh game. They soon served out the set and the match.

Paes in mixed quarters
Paes, however, progressed in the mixed doubles quarter-finals later in the day. Seventh-seeded Paes and Czech Iveta Benesova overcame second set resistance from Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei and Marcin Matkowski of Poland to win 6-4, 7-6(1).