Paes-Laureau crash to American pair

MELBOURNE, JANUARY 20: World number one doubles player Leander Paes of India and his Canadian partner Sebastian Lareau crashed out of the Australian Open men’s doubles to Americans Geoff Grant and Jack Waite in the first round on Thursday.

Paes-Laureau came back strongly after losing the first set in the tie-breaker but could not maintain the same tempo in the decider against their determined rivals.

Paes, who reached the final of all four Grand Slams last year with Bhupathi, winning the French Open and Wimbledon, had reached lost a thriller against Aussie Pat Rafter and Swede Jonas Bjorkman in last year’s summit clash.

The 26-year-old Indian Davis Cup star lost to Sweden’s Andreas Vinceiguerra 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 3-6 in the men’s singles second round on Wednesday.