'Indian Express' derailed at U.S. Open

French Open champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out of the US Open in the first round after a straight sets defeat to a little-known pairing.

The Indians, seeded fifth, lost to Sergio Roitman of Argentina and Italian Andres Schneiter 6-7(4), 1-6.

In the first set, the Indians came out sharp and went up a break in the sixth game when Bhupathi hit a couple of winners from the baseline and Paes showed his class at the net to go up 4-2. Paes served-off the next game to make it 5-2. The Indians had two set points off Schneiter's serve in the next game, but could not convert them.

The failure to convert the set points was the turning point of the match and the Indians lost the edge as they were broken in the ninth game when Bhupathi served up a double fault.

In the tie-breaker, at 2-2 off Leander's serve, a lapse in concentration saw the Indians lose a point to fell back 2-3. Here after the rivals made the Indians pay for letting go off the earlier chances, holding on to win the tiebreaker at 7-4.

In the second set also, the Indians had an early breakpoint opportunity in the first game at 15-40 off Schneiter's serve, but they could not capitalise on it. Paes-Bhupathi continued to make a slew of errors. In the 4th game, Paes dropped serve to fall behind. In the 6th game, Bhupathi dropped serve to make matters worse and the Indians lost in just 45 minutes.

The Indian duo had a decent first serve percentage but what they really failed to take advantage of was the break point oppurtunities. They managed to convert only 1 of 5 while their opponents converted 3 of 4.

It was the fourth and the most shocking first round knockout for the Indians in the last nine Grand Slams, where they have won three titles and have been in the finals five times.

In the mixed doubles, Leander is playing with his regular partner Lisa Raymond of the United States while Bhupathi is playing with Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia and are seeded second and sixth respectively.

Both the pairs are placed in the lower half of the draw. Paes / Raymond will face Els Callens and Tom Vanhoudt of Belgium while Bhuapthi / Dokic will face Cara Black and Wayne Black of Zimbabwe in the first round.