Sydney International: Leander Paes-Jeremy Chardy go down in straight sets

Sydney: India's tennis star Leander Paes and his partner Jeremy Chardy on Monday suffered a straight-set loss in the opening round of men's doubles at the USD 404,780 Sydney International here today.

Paes and his men's doubles partner Jeremy Chardy of France lost 4-6, 4-6 in an hour and eight minutes to Brazilian-Canadian third seeds Marcelo Melo and Daniel Nestor on Court No.3 of the NSW Tennis Centre.

Paes will start as the defending champion at Australian Open next week alongwith Swiss Martina Hingis in the mixed doubles category and this defeat will be dampner for his preparation for the prestigious event.

The Indo-French combo failed to convert the eight break point chances that came their way as Melo and Nestor broke the them once each in the two sets to sail into the quarterfinals.

Among other Indians in fray, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna will play their respective matches on Tuesday.