India’s Leander Paes and his German partner Alexander Zverev went down to the Spanish duo of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in a men’s doubles first round match to bow out of the Cincinnati Open. The Indo-German pair fought hard before losing 6-2 6(2)-7 6-10 to their Spanish rivals in a closely-fought contest, which lasted an hour and 21 minutes, reported PTI.
The Spaniards will next take on doubles legends Bob and Mike Bryan in the second round. Meanwhile, Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig of Croatia have got a first round bye. Zverev has stitched a phenomenal run during the year, becoming the youngest player to win five Masters titles in a year. He recently shocked veteran Roger Federer in straight sets to win the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
Not a regular doubles exponent, the 20-year-old stated that he enjoyed pairing up with Paes, who is 24-years his senior, “He needs someone very high ranked to get in those tournaments. He asked me if I can help him out, I’m like, yeah, sure,” Zverev said. “I know him quite well. He’s a good guy. Unfortunately we lost, but it was fun.”