Bhupathi-Bopanna, Paes-Stepanek exit Madrid Open

Madrid: The Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the ATP Madrid Masters after losing their semi-final match to Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania here.

The seventh-seeded Indian duo fought hard before losing 4-6 6-1 7-10 in an hour and 16 minutes.

After losing the first set 4-6, Bhupathi and Bopanna fought their way back into the match, clinching the second comfortably, 6-1.

Lindstedt-Tecau downed Bhupathi-Bopanna in semis, while Paes-Stepanek lost in quarters.

Both the teams, however, refused to spare an inch in the deciding Super Tie-breaker, where the Swedish-Romanian combo managed to keep its nerves to run away with the match.

Earlier, fifth-seeded Indo-Czech pair of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek lost to second seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 3-6 7-6 2-10 in the quarter-final.

Paes and Stepanek managed to stretch their higher-ranked opponents before going down in a battle that lasted an hour and 29 minutes.

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