Paes-Stepanek advance, Bhupathi-Hantuchova crash out

London: Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek had to work hard to beat Daniele Bracciali and Jonathan Erlich in the men`s doubles first round even as Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniela Hantuchova bowed out of the mixed doubles event at the Wimbledon Championships, here on Friday.

Fourth seeds Paes and Stepanek won the match, stretched to second day after being suspended due to rain, with a 7-6 (6) 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4 win after battling hard with the Italian-Israeli pair for three hours and five minutes. The Indo-Czech pair had secured the first set yesterday before skies opened up, forcing suspension of play. They next face local guy Jamie Delgado and Australian Matthew Ebden. However, it was not a good day in office for Bhupathi and his Slovakian partner Hantuchova as they suffered a first round defeat in the mixed doubles. The Indo-Slovakian pair lost 7-6 (2) 4-6 4-6 to Mark Knowles of Bahamas and Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Bhupathi`s challenge in men`s doubles is still alive as he has moved to the second round with Autrian partner Julian Knowle. They are up against Amercian Nicholas Monroe and Simon Stadler of Germany. PTI