Leander Paes and his Serbian partner Nenad Zemonjic were knocked out in the first round of the men’s doubles at the US Open. Paes and Zemonjic, seeded five, were shocked by home pair Jeff Morrison and Amer Delic 7-6 (8/6) 7-6 (7/2). Sania Mirza and Bryanne Stewart (Aus) too lost in the first round as the pair went down to Emilie Loit (Fra) and Nicole Pratt (Aus) 2-6, 4-6. But their loss was offset by the progress of Mahesh Bhupathi and Martin Damm who breezed past Gael Monfils and Cyril Saulnier of France 6-1, 6-3. Both Paes and Bhupathi are set to play the first round mixed doubles matches later in the day. Meanwhile, world No.1 Lindsay Davenport charged into the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 6-1 hammering of French qualifier Pauline Parmentier. Seventh seed Justine Henin-Hardenne reached the third round with a below par 6-3 6-4 win over Spain’s Maria Sanchez Lorenzo.
