Melbourne, Jan 27 (Inditop.com) Leander Paes and Cara Black stormed into the mixed doubles semifinals but the Indian’s quest for a third doubles trophy in a Grand Slam with Czech Lukas Dlouhy fell short as the pair lost in the quarter finals of the men’s doubles at the Australian Open here Wednesday.
The top-seeded Paes-Black pair swept aside eighth seeds Elena Vesnina of Russia and Israel’s Andy Ram 6-4, 6-3. The Indo-Zimbabwean pair now play seventh seeds Lisa Raymond of the US and Wesley Moodie of South Africa.
However, third-seeded Paes and Dlouhy’s run for a third Grand Slam title — to add to 2009 Roland Garros and US Open trophies — wasover with a 3-6, 4-6 loss to Croat Ivo Karlovic and Dusan Vemic of Serbia. The two had reached the semi-finals here last year.
The win was Karlovic and Vemic’s third win over a seeded pair this fortnight.
rounak