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Paes-Bhupathi into round three

Shailesh Soni

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi -- Indian Express, to those who follow their doubles exploits -- entered the third round of the Australian Open defeating the American pair of Doug Flach/Mark Merklein, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6.

It took 2 hours and 14 minutes for the Indians to defeat the Americans, coming back from a loss in the first set and withstanding a series of below par service games from Leander.

The first set saw a lot of action, with games swinging in both directions. Leander got broken in his very first service game and the Indians were down 1-3, but came back to break their opponents in the sixth game.

Leander, however, was broken in the very next game, for the Indians to lose the set 4-6.

The Amricans obviously had a much better first serve percentage as compared to the Indians, the latter adding to their problems by committing many unforced errors.

The second set saw the Indians start with a bang, breaking their opponents in the second game to take the lead. Leander, however, was broken yet again, this time in the seventh game. But the Indians held on the ninth, then broke again to take the second set 6-4.

This time round, though the Indian serve still looked vulnerable, they tightened their overall game considerably and committed much fewer unforced errors. Further, they turned in a 100 percent break point conversion rate.

Both teams came out swinging in the third set, with games going on serve till the 8th. In the ninth game, Mahesh was broken for the only time in the match, but the Indians came right back to break, in their turn, to level scores at 5-5.

Leander was broken for the 5th time in the match, in the 11th game, but the Indians again broke back in the 12th, and Mahesh went on to hold his own serve in the 13th to go ahead.

The American pair were at one point down 0-40 on serve in the 14th, but came back to save two match points before the Indians finished it off to nail down the set and match.

The Indians had six aces as compared to one from the Americans, and a better winning percentage on their first serves. However, Leander's weakness on serve is proving a bit of a worry, as the number one seeded pair prepare to take on the winners of the second round match between Jared Palmer/Jeff Tarango of USA and the 16th seeded South African pair of David Adams/John De Jager.

Interestingly, the last time Leander met Flach was when the Indian was partnering Peter Tramachi at the Newport Hall of Fame tournament. Flach, with Sandon Stolle for company, defeated Paes and Tramachi on that occasion.

Again, the last time the Indians encountered Merkelin was in Doha two weeks ago, when the Grant-Merkelin pair downed the fancied Indians in the first round.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes will be playing their first mixed doubles matches on Saturday.

Leander partners Katrina Adams of USA and is seeded sixth. Their first opponents are the unseeded Chris Haggard of South Africa and Els Callens of Belarus.

Mahesh meanwhile teams up with regular partner Mirjana Lucic, the teen sensation from Croatia, and are seeded fourth, their first opponents being the unseeded pair of Martin Damm from czech republic and Karin Kschwendt of Austria.