Indian duo looking to regain Wimbledon crown

India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, fresh from their French Open triumph, say they are gunning for their second Wimbledon doubles title.

The former world number one pair, on a strong comeback after splitting up for a few months last year, are seeded sixth in the grass court event starting on Monday.

"There are no problems, preparations are going on. We are confident," Bhupathi told Reuters from London on Friday.

Paes and Bhupathi, who have climbed to number two in the 2001 ATP doubles race, showed early grasscourt form to reach the semifinals of the Stella Artois tournament at Queen's Club last week before losing to Americans Bob and Mike Bryan.

The Indian pair said it was a good start.

"It's good we got four matches on grass. We won three of them so things are going along well considering we take time to adjust on grass, which is perhaps our least favourite surface," Bhupathi said.

Two years ago they became the first doubles pair since 1952 to reach the final of all four Grand Slams in a year.

They won the French Open and Wimbledon titles and finished the year ranked number one in the world.

But a tumultuous 2000 saw them break up because of what media reports called misunderstandings and ego clashes.

Paes and Bhupathi went their own ways, battling injuries and playing with different partners, but never matching the heights they scaled together.

They reunited just before the Sydney Olympics in September but lacked consistency until earlier this year, when they won titles at Houston and Atlanta and capped a great clay court season at the French Open in Paris.

"The win has given us a great boost, no doubt," Bhupathi said. "But it's one match at a time as usual once Wimbledon starts. We have a tough first round match. We'll try to make sure we win that first and then take it from there.

The pair, nicknamed the "Indian Express", take on France's Michael Llodra and South Africa's David Adams in the first round.

They are in the top half of the draw and have a potential semifinal clash with top seeds Swede Jonas Bjorkman and Australian Todd Woodbridge, the runaway leaders in the doubles rankings race this year.