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Doubles dream over for Navratilova and Paes
US tennis legend Martina Navratilova and mixed doubles partner Leander Paes of India crashed out of the French Open on Monday.
US tennis legend Martina Navratilova and mixed doubles partner Leander Paes of India crashed out of the French Open here on Monday in the second round.
The sixth-seeded pair, the 2003 Australian Open and Wimbledon champions, fell 7-5, 7-5 on Court One to 19-year-old Indonesian Angelique Widjaja and her 29-year-old Argentine partner Lucas Arnold.
Navratilova, 47, whose dream of a winning return to the singles event crumbled in the first round, is still however in the running for the women's doubles where she has reached the quarter-finals with Lisa Raymond.
"There were just one or two shots in the difference in the match. Martina and I did everything we could," said Paes.
"In the first set we started well and were a break up when we lost our serve. At 3-4 we had two break points, but we missed many chances and they played one or two very good shots which made the difference," explained the 30-year-old from Calcutta.
Paes' former men's doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi, meanwhile, advanced to the semi-finals along with Belarus partner Max Mirnyi by beating Germano-Armenian pairing Karsten Braasch and Sargis Sargsian 6-3, 6-4.
And Paes confirmed that he and Bhupathi will reunite in a bid to win a doubles medal at this year's Olympic Games in Athens.
"We've played Davis Cup which has helped and we're going to play a few events beforehand," explained Paes, a former Wimbledon junior champion said.
The former world number one pair, known as the Indian Express, have separated twice in the past and agreed to a similar reunion before the last Olympics at Sydney in 2000.
The pair have not won a doubles medal at the Olympics in two previous attempts, although Paes won a singles bronze at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
They lost to the Australian pair of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in the second round on both occasions.
The Indian duo enjoyed a successful run in 1999 when they made the finals of all four Grand Slam events. But they broke up soon after due to differences over a coach before reuniting just prior to the Sydney Games.
Paes and Bhupathi parted company once again in 2002 but have been pairing up regularly in the Davis Cup.
