Paes/Bhupathi score second
successive victory

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi scored their second successive victory in the Touchtel ATP World Doubles Challenge Cup, beating the pair of Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Brian MacPhie of the United States 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-3 at the Kingfisher McDowell KSLTA stadium, in Bangalore, on Wednesday.

The 125-minute victory assured the fourth seeds, who had easily beaten the South African pair of John Laffnie de Jagger and Robbie Koenig in their opening round robin match in the Bharti group on Tuesday, a berth in the semi-finals.

The ace Indian pair blew a match-point in the 10th game of the second set, but came back strongly in the third.

Leading 5-4 and holding advantage, a weak return saw the fifth seeds resurrecting themselves to win the second set after they lost the tie break in the first.

The third set saw Paes being broken in the very first game. With the crowd rooting for their heroes and egging them on, the Indian pair bounced back to break Knowles in the fourth and eighth games. Paes then served out for the match with four match-points.

"We played some high quality tennis and they (Knowles/Macphie) are a good doubles pair. We did not start the third set as we had planned, but we changed the momentum of the match our way. Under these conditions, playing at home, it is easy to do that than when away from home.

"We were a break down and it was good to come back. We will come out tomorrow to play our best tennis and then take it from there," said Paes.

Leach and Ferreira stage grand rally

In the last match of the day, veterans Rick Leach of the United States and Ellis Ferreira of South Africa rallied splendidly after losing the first set to get the better of Chris Haggard of South Africa and Tom Vanhoudt of Belgium 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-3 in the Touchtel group.

The experienced sixth seeds smiled their way through despite being a set down and, in the end, cantered to a comfortable victory.

Losing the first set after holding serves to level games scores at 6-all, the veterans lost in the tie-break. After that it was experience that prevailed as Leach and Ferreira broke Vanhoudt in the second and sixth games of the second set.

In the decider, they broke Haggard`s serve in the first game before Ferreira was broken in the third. Haggard was broken again in the ninth game, and Vanhoudt in the seventh, as Leach and Ferreira clinched victory.

Johnson/Palmer too good for Bryan twins

Wimbledon champions and top seeds Don Johnson and Jared Palmer of the United States registered their second victory, beating the much hyped pair of Bob and Mike Bryan, also of the United States, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, at the Kingfisher McDowell KSLTA stadium on Wednesday.

After a close first set, Johnson and Palmer, who are in the Touchtel group, breezed through in the second to win comfortably.

They snuffed out any ambitions the twins harboured of an upset when they claimed the first set, after the two teams had held on to serves to force the tie-break.

The second set was a different issue with the senior players losing the third game on Johnson`s serve. But the experienced duo bounced back to break Mike in the fourth game and Bob in the sixth to go up 4-2 and then easily won at 6-3.

The Bryans had beaten the experienced pair of Ellis Ferreira of South Africa and Rick Leach of the US in their opening match on Tuesday.

"We slipped out and gave away too many easy points. We relaxed when we were a break up and our attitude did not match the situation. But we have learnt now that even being a break up does not matter. We have to concentrate harder and consolidate our position," said the brothers

"Haggard and Vanhoudt gave us a very difficult match yesterday. They played very well. But today, we knew we had to play well. The Bryan brothers are strong and good. Thay are young and they are the future doubles team for the US, and we could not afford to take the match lightly. But we kept ourselves focused and well it came through," said Johnson.

Pala/Vizner score first victory

The Czech pair of Petr Pala and Pavel Vizner, playing in the Bharti group, demolished the South African pair of John Laffnie de Jagger and Robbie Koenig 6-3, 6-2 to post their first win in two matches in the round robin league at the $ 350,000 Touchtel ATP World Doubles Challenge Cup at the Kingfisher McDowell KSLTA stadium on Wednesday.

The fourth seeded Czech duo shrugged off Tuesday's defeat, to break the South Africans in the very second game of the first set when Laffnie was serving. That break proved good enough as they held on to their serves to claim the set.

The second set saw Laffnie being broken in the first game. But the South Africans had their share of success when they broke Pala in the fourth game to even the game scores at 2-2. But like on Tuesday, the South Africans' game went on the wane and Koenig was broken in the seventh game. The Czechs then served out to clinch the match, which lasted a little over an hour.

Earlier report:
Day 1: Paes-Bhupathi kick off campaign in style