US Open 2013: Leander Paes, Sania Mirza cruise through, Mahesh Bhupathi bows out

FILE PHOTO: Leander Paes (in pic above) and Sania Mirza had good starts at the US Open. Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out in the first round

Indian campaign at the US Open kick started on Thursday with wins for Leander Paes and Sania Mirza.

The other Indian veteran, Mahesh Bhupathi lost his men’s doubles match against the Canadian pair of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil. In a tournament were Indians have regularly done well, Bhupathi’s loss came as a big blow.

Indo- German pair bows out:

Mahesh Bhupathi, who teamed up with the German Philipp Petzschner in what is to be his final US Open of his career lost to the seeded pair of Nestor and Pospisil of Canada. The veteran, who is slated to retire at the end of this year, bowed out in the very first round with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) loss.

The pair, playing together for their first time in their career, were broken thrice in their first game as the Canadian pair took a 6-3 lead. However, the pair did not go down without a fight as they took the second game to the tie-breaker. They were just not able to bring out their ace game when it was needed as they went down fighting 7-6 (7-4).

Bhupathi, who switches his partners frequently, will pair up with five times Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis in their mixed doubles campaign at the hardcourt event. The 39-year-old will look to finish off his career on a high note with a Grand Slam win.

Paes moves on:

In another match later in the day, Leander Paes paired up with Radek Stepanek and breezed through to the second round with a straight set win over the unseeded pair of Jarkko Nieminen and Dmitry Tursunov. The scoreline stood 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) at the end of the game.

The 4th seeded pair was in its element from earlier on in the game as they demolished their opponent with attacking net game and winners. The pair took the first set 6-4 and looked to have full control over the game.

However, they were troubled in the second set as the Finnish-Russian pair played some fine tennis. A few unforced error from the seasoned campaigners saw the game move into the tie-breaker. But the pair held their nerve to take the game in straight sets.

Sania Mirza cruises through:

India’s Sania Mirza made an empathetic start to her women’s doubles campaign in the US Open on Thursday. Partnering Jie Zheng of China, she cruised past Monica Puig and Annika Beck 6-2, 6-2.

The New Haven Open champions were aggressive from the word go and hardly broke a sweat during the course of the match which lasted 1 hour 21 minutes. With powerful forehand winners and a beautiful net game, the pair took the first set in 46 minutes.

The second set took even less time to wrap up as the 10th seeded pair looked at its destructive best. They complimented each other with their strokes as they took second set 6-2 in 36 minutes.

Sania and Zheng will now meet Katalin Marosi of Hungary and American Megan Moulton-Levy in the second round.