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Journalism of Courage
Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were engaged in a verbal confrontation with their rivals Juan Monaco of Argentina and Spain8217;s Feliciano Lopez during the second round men8217;s doubles match of the Australian Open here on Saturday.
Just after the end of the second round men8217;s doubles encounter,Lopez accused Paes of trying to provoke him and his partner during the match that the 8220;Indian Express8221; duo won 7-6 2 6-4 to enter into the third round of the Grand Slam.
The match officials then had to step in to calm down the players who started remonstrating on court.
The television footage showed that the four players gathered at the net,arguing and signalling with their hands.
8220;We were playing,match was quiet and one of the players Paes,he was trying to provoke us all the time,8221; said Lopez.
8220;I know it8217;s the style he been using the past 20 years. But that8217;s OK. Nothing else,8221; he added.
Lopez also said that there was a time during that match when he and his Argentine partner got irritated with the way Paes was trying to unsettle them.
8220;At one point,we were a little bit tired of the style he was using on the court and that8217;s all what happened 8230; we don8217;t want to make a big story about something that happened.8221;
However,Lopez later claimed that there was no lingering problem.
On the other hand,tournament officials refused to instantly comment on the issue.
