Paes-Stepanek lose in quarters, Bopanna out of mixed doubles

Melbourne, Jan 22 (IANS) India’s Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek lost their men’s doubles quarterfinals while Rohan Bopanna went down in his last-eight match in the mixed doubles at the Australia Open here Wednesday.

Paes-Stepanek suffered a 2-6, 6-7 loss to Michael Llodra and Nicholas Mahut, the 13th seeds from France.

Both Paes and Stepanek were erratic in the first set and committed four double faults. They also made 11 unforced errors while the Frenchmen made six.

Later Friday, Bopanna and his Slovakian partner Katarina Srebotnik were humbled by Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden. The second seeds lost 5-7, 3-6 in 67 minutes.

Sania Mirza (Horia Tecau) and Paes (Daniela Hantuchova) remain in the mixed doubles draw. They play their quarterfinals with their respective partners Thursday.