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Hesh-Bops toil, Paes-Stepanek cruise through
India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna came from a set down to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 against Australian pair of Mathew Ebden and Chris Guccione in the first round of the men’s doubles in the Australian Open on Wednesday.
India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna came from a set down to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 against Australian pair of Mathew Ebden and Chris Guccione in the first round of the men’s doubles in the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Leander Paes had an easy first-round clash. Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek dispatched Aussie pair of Greg Jones and John-Patrick Smith 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 13 minutes.
The Aussie pair took a surprise lead against the fourth-seeded Indians. But Bhupathi and Bopanna came back strongly in the next two sets, hitting 44 winners to advance to the second round.
The Indo-Czech pair of Paes and Stepanek converted five of the nine break points as they romped home in straight sets. They will play 14th seeded Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini in the second round.
