Bhupathi-Malisse pair crashes out of US Open

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Belgian partner Xavier Malisse crashed out of the US Open with a 4-6, 4-6 defeat at the hands of the Czech-Russian pair of Leos Friedl and Mikhail Youzhny here.

The Indo-Belgian pair failed to raise their game at crucial junctures and allowed their opponents to sail into the second round of the last Grand Slam of the year.

Bhupathi and Malisse wasted two break points in the first set and were also broken twice as the Czech-Russian pair got a foothold in the match and took the initiative to win the opener in 41 minutes.

The next set followed a similar pattern and having lost their rhythm in the opener, Bhupathi and Malisse found it difficult to make a comeback. Friedl and Youzhny also gave away little and the Indo-Czech duo ended up conceding 10 break points.

However, their opponents managed to convert just two, which led to the second set being stretched to 56 minutes. But the Indo-Belgian pair had lost the plot by then as they failed to capitalise on any of the mistakes committed by their rivals to crash out of the event.

Meanwhile, the sixth seeded Indo-Czech pair Leander Paes and Martin Damm will start its campaign against the Czech Petr Pala and Robin Vik today.