London: India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi lost their first round Group A encounter against Swede Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-7(6), 1-6 in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London here on Monday.
The fourth seeds from India converted only two of the 11 break points, all in the first set. Sixth seeds Lindstedt and Tecau were both making their first appearance at the World Tour Finals.
There were four breaks of serve in the first set, which Lindstedt and Tecau could have won the set 6-4, but Lindstedt hit a double fault on sudden death deuce. Ultimately, Bhupathi and Paes were left to rue the missed opportunities.
In the tie-break, Bhupathi ripped a forehand return winner past a net-rushing Tecau for a 6-4 lead. Tecau then hit a smash winner and Lindstedt finely placed a lob over Paes to save both set points. At 6-6, Lindstedt lashed a forehand return winner down the line before closing out the 59-minute set.
Lindstedt and Tecau blew the Indian pair away in just 28 minutes in the second set. They raced raced to a 3-0 lead against the five-time qualifiers. At 1-4, Bhupathi got broken to 30 to leave Lindstedt the opportunity to serve out the match.
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