Stich doubles comeback ends with first round defeat

Hamburg: Former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich`s return to competitive action 12 years after his retirement lasted only 62 minutes on Tuesday, losing his doubles first round at the German Open.Stich, 40, joined up with 21-year-old Mischa Zverev but the German duo were beaten 6-4, 6-2 by the Swedish-Australian pair of Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley, much to the disappointment of the watching 4,000 fans.

Stich, who won Wimbledon in 1991 and was also a French Open and US Open finalist, won a total 18 career titles and reached a career-high ranking of number two before retiring in 1997. As tournament director of the German Open, which lost its Masters status this year and was moved to the unattractive -- for clay courts -- July date, Stich gave himself and Zverev a wild card to add some spice to the competition and raise its profile. Stich is not the only retired player to make a brief doubles comeback. Former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, partnered by Swede Jonas Bjorkman, won the San Jose doubles tournament in 2006 aged 47, 14 years after his last title. Bureau Report