Lee-Hesh in Rd 2,Indian challenge ends in singles

Experienced Indian doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi survived a scare to reach the second round of the Wimbledon.

Experienced Indian doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi survived a scare to reach the second round of the Wimbledon here on Friday.

The third seeded Indian pair registered a hard-fought 6-7 (7) 6-4 6-4 victory over Croatian combo of Ivan Dodig and Lovro Zovko in the opening round of the grass court tournament.

Somdev Devvarman and his Japanese partner Kei Nishikori also crossed the first hurdle and advanced to the second round with a 6-7(3) 6-3 6-2 win over German duo of Rainer Schuettler and Alexander Waske in the mens doubles.

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In womens doubles,Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina reached the prequarterfinals after registering a thrilling three-setter victory over Czech Renata Voracova and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan in the second round. The fourth seeded Indo-Russian pair defeated the Czech-Kazakhstan combination 6-3 5-7 6-4.

However,Somdevs Wimbledon debut in singles ended with a straight set defeat against Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the second round,bringing down the curtains on Indias singles challenge in the event.

The 68th ranked Indian lost 2-6 4-6 4-6 to 18th seed Russian in the rain-hit match last night. Somdev has done well in the season so far but could not improve his Grand Slam record of having never managed to go past the second round.