Third seeds Leander Paes and Andre Sa were upset by the unseeded Indian team of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 at the Chennai Open on Wednesday.
Paes and his Brazilian partner started steadily, but a break in the ninth game of the first set on Sa’s serve saw Sharan and Raja take a one-set lead comfortably. In the second set, consecutive breaks of serve in the third and fifth gave the unranked Indians the upper edge to try and serve out the match in the eighth game. However, a break of serve for the Indians and a quick consolidation for the third seeds kept them in the match even as Raja and Sharan tried to serve for the match for the second time in the 10th game.
There was no mistake from the lower-ranked opponents this time as they notched the win to reach the quarter-finals after 68 minutes of play where they will take on the Austrian-Argentinian pair of Jurgen Melzer and Renzo Olivo.
Earlier in the day, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan crashed out of the doubles draw in the first round losing to the French-Belgian team of Benoit Paire and Steve Darcis 4-6, 6-0, 10-8 in 59 minutes.
The Indians, who had received a wild card in the doubles draw, lost the first set but recovered will to bagel their opponents in the second set. In the super tie-break, despite the Indians’ best efforts, Paire and Darcis eked out a win to take their place in the quarter-finals, where they will face the fourth seeds Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak. Monroe and Sitak defeated the Russian team of Konstantin Kravchuk and Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets 7-6, 6-3.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!