Mahesh-Rohan crash out in opening round

Sania Mirza entered the mixed doubles second round, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna made a shock first-round exit from the men's doubles event of the US Open.

Sania Mirza entered the mixed doubles second round, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna made a shock first-round exit from the men's doubles event of the US Open.

Sania's new partnership with Britain's Colin Fleming began with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Germany's Andrea Petkovic and Eric Butorac.

In men's doubles, Bhupathi and Bopanna, who have been dumped from the Indian Davis Cup, were shown the door in the first round itself.

The eighth-seeded Indian team was defeated 3-6, 6-7 (4) by unseeded Australians Matthew Ebden and Bernard Tomic.

Leander Paes sailed into the second round with Radek Stepanek.

The fifth-seeded team outplayed Dustin Brown and Christopher Kas 6-3, 6-3.

Still friends
Sania insisted that she and Bhupathi remained firm friends despite their decision to split as a mixed doubles team.

The duo, who have won two Grand Slam titles together, have gone their separate ways at the US Open following the bitter build-up during the Olympics.

"We are still good friends," she said.

"We have a great relationship and we are not going to spoil that over mixed doubles. Our commitment was only up until the Olympics and we both agreed it was best to have a break."