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Journalism of Courage
Mahesh Bhupathi and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek defeated ninth seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner of Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 4 to advance to the men8217;s doubles third round of the Australian Open here today.
A first-set loss did not faze the pair, and they rallied back to take the match into a third set. The decider went all the way to a tie-break, and at the end of it, Bhupathi and Stepanek8217;s victory ensured Indian interest would still be alive in the men8217;s doubles event after former partner Leander Paes crashed in the third round. The pair take on Israeli seventh seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
Paes, playing with Martin Damm of the Czech Republic, saw his run come to an end after the pair lost their third-round match to Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut of France in straight sets. The fifth-seeded pair went down 5-7, 6-7 9 to the French duo in a two-hour long battle.
Paes did have a successful outing in the mixed doubles, though, combining with Australia8217;s Samantha Stosur to notch up a straight sets win in the first round. The duo defeated Yves Allegro of Switzerland and Russia8217;s Elena Bovina 6-2, 6-2. The Indo-Australian pair, seeded third, next face South African Chris Haggard and Greece8217;s Eleni Daniilidou who beat Czech Republic8217;s Leos Friedl and Frenchwoman Tathiana Garbin 6-3 6-1.
