Leander Paes [Images] got the better of Mahesh Bhupathi [Images] in the men's doubles while Sania Mirza [Images] bowed out in the first round of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open on Monday.

Paes and Martin Damm of the Czech Republic recovered from a slow start to defeat Bhupathi and Wesley Moodie of South Africa 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and advance to the quarter-finals.

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The seventh seeds lost their serve in the very first game, but proved to be the better of the two teams as they won in an hour and 42 minutes in the third round match.

The Indo-Czech pair will now take on Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the last eight.

Sania and Wimbledon men's doubles champion Stephen Huss of Australia went down 3-6, 3-6 to Bob Bryan of the US and Vera Zvonareva of Russia [Images].

Moodie and Bhupathi dominated the first set as they put early pressure on their rivals by forcing four break points on Damm's serve. A break in the second game helped them go up 3-0 before taking the set.

But Paes and Damm came back strongly in the second set. A couple of strong service returns by either players got them the break on Bhupathi's serve in the fourth game and they held on to the lead and pushed the match into the decider.

Paes and Damm turned on the heat on their opponents early in the third set as they won it 6-2 to seal the match.

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