Indian ace Leander Paes`s bid to retain the individual Olympic tennis bronze was shattered by Sweden`s Mikael Tillstrom, who virtually decimated him in the first round of the competitions on Wednesday. Paes lost to Tillstorm in straight sets 2-6, 4-6. The 113-ranked Leander was totally off colour and it looked as he was only going through the motions to complete the formalities. The Swede on the other hand was not prepared to give his rival any quarter.
Twenty-seven-year-old Leander was found wanting in every department of the game. His first serves did not work -- he had a pathetic 26 per cent landing right in the first set, which improved to just 59 per cent in the second. He double faulted for six times and also made too many unforced errors. The Swede fired three aces as against two by the Indian and double faulted only twice. He converted five break points as against two by his rival. His unforced error rate was 9 while Leander committed 13 .

The big contingent of Indian fans which had come to support Leander was disappointed the way their hero threw in the towel.
Leader has another match, first round doubles with Mahesh Bhupathi, coming up later in the afternoon.
There were no signs of bravado, from the Indian as he collapsed under the furious onslaught of his rival. Considering how little, especially singles, Leander has played in the last four months, it really was not surprising.
Bureau Report