Leander Paes accused of provocation

Spain's Feliciano Lopez accused Leander Paes of trying to provoke him and his partner Juan Monaco of Argentina during their second-round match. Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won the match 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Match officials stepped in to calm down players in a men's doubles match at the Australian Open who started remonstrating on court.

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Spain's Feliciano Lopez accused Leander Paes of trying to provoke him and his partner Juan Monaco of Argentina during their second-round match. Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won the match 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Television footage showed all four players grouped together at the net, arguing and gesticulating with their hands. Officials came over and calmed things down and Lopez said later there was no lingering problem.

Lopez said the Paes "was trying to provoke us all the time. At one point, we were a little bit tired of the style he was using on the court, and that's all that happened."

Tournament officials did not immediately comment.