Cincinnati (Ohio), August 16, 2017: Leander Paes, partnering Alexande Zverev of Germany, were knocked out by Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez who rallied to post 2-6, 7-6, 10-6 in the Western and Southern Open at court No. 11 here today. Last year Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez had won their first Grand Slam title by beating Bryan Brothers -- Bob and Mike in doubles final in Paris.
The Indo-German pair had a smooth sailing in the first set which they clinched at 6-2. However in the second set, the Spanish pair put up equal good fight and the games moved with the service. The pairs were tied at 3-3, 4-4 5-5 6-6. After failing to break the deadlock after 12 games, the tie-breaker was applied. The Spanish combination raced to a 5-0 lead before Paes-Zverev could win their first point. However, Lpezs maintained their pressure and clinched the set at 7-6 (7-2).
Tied one set all the match breaker tie-breaker started, in the match tie-breaker session, Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez displayed better coordination. They gained a 5-2 lead and continued to exert pressure and won the by 10-6 and the first round victory. The match lasted one hour and 22 minutes.
Late last night, Lucky loser Ramkumar Ramanathan of India defeated American qualifier Christopher Eubanks 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4 in the first round match in men's singles.
Ramkumar who went down fighting to 14th seed Maximillan Marterer of Germany 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2) in the final qualifying round advanced into the main draw as Lucky Loser.