Mahesh Bhupathi returned to Grand Slam action with a first-round win at the Australian Open but Leander Paes' bid fell flat at the first hurdle, here today.
Bhupathi, who is playing with Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, beat the Australian team of Alex Bolt and Andrew Whittington 7-6 (4) 3-6 6-4 in his tournament-opener at court seven.
In the two hour and 13 minute contest, Bhupathi and Muller managed to save 12 breakpoints out of 15 they faced.
It was Bhupathi's third competitive event since bowing out of 2015 Wimbledon championships. He had missed the entire second half of the last year as he was busy with the conduct of his ambitious International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
He had played at the Chennai Open and then at a Challenger tournament in Thailand, where he reached the semifinals with compatriot Purav Raja.
The 42-year-old Paes made an exit with French partner Jeremy Charady after losing his first round 3-6 4-6 to Colombian 12th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
Their challenge was over in 72 minutes as they squandered five of the six break chances.
The Australians got four set points with a forehand
volley winner and then pocketed the set on the first, courtesy a forehand unforced error from Bopanna and Cuevas.
With the match level at one set apiece, the decider went on serve in the first six games before Bolt and Mousley broke Bopanna's serve with a forehand winner to take a 4-3 lead.
Thereafter, the set went on serve as Bopanna and Cuevas failed to break back their opponents to concede the defeat.
Bopanna later blamed a "horrendous call" at a crucial juncture in the match from the chair umpire as the reason behind his early ouster from the men's doubles event.
The contentious call was made on Cuevas' serve, which was broken in the seventh game of the final set. On break point, a volley from Bolt sailed wide but the chair umpire ruled that the ball had brushed Bopanna's racket on the way out.
Protesting the call, Bopanna and Cuevas were involved in an animated conversation with the chair umpire at the change of ends.
"I can't believe you made that call. That's a horrendous call. No one heard (the deflection) and you only heard it. That's what I am really surprised," said a furious Bopanna while arguing with the chair umpire.
He later tweeted: "Very hard to digest a loss in a match when the REF decides the outcome.Reactions of opponents says it all.@AustralianOpen #MostShockingCall.
