Paris: Tournament favourites and fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes were knocked out in thrilling three-set encounter in the second round of Paris Masters on Wednesday.
The Indian duo were edged out by the pair of Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and German Christopher Kas 6-3, 1-6 , 0-1 (8-10).
The former world number one, who got a first-round bye, started on a positive note, winning the first set with ease. However, Gonzalez and Kas struck back in the second set, completely outplaying their opponents and pocketing it 6-1.
The match tie-break turned out to be an edge-of-the-seat affair. (This 'set' is awarded to the team reaching 10 points first.) Gonzalez and Kas took a 6-3 lead and looked set to seal victory. However, the Indian pair fought back to level the match at 7-7. Gonzalez and Kas proved to be too strong though, as they won points at key moments to eventually march into the quarter-finals.
Paes and Bhupathi, who was the defending champion here having won the tournament with Max Mirnyi, will have to regroup to mount their challenge at the ATP World Tour Finals that will start in London on November 20.
Rohan Bopanna is the lone Indian hope left in the tournament. The Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi play their opening match against Britain's Colin Fleming and Jamie Murray on Thursday. Bopanna-Qureshi are seeded seventh in the tournament.
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