It was disappointment at the Nungambakkam Stadium on Monday as Indian fans witnessed Somdev Devvarman [ Images ] and Sanam Singh making an opening round exit at the Chennai Open.

The Asian Games gold medalists failed to make the most of the wildcard awarded to them by losing 7-5, 2-6, 8-10 to the Dutch-American combine of Robin Hasse and David Martin.

Egged on by a vociferous and palpably partisan crowd, the Somdev-Sanam combine were always in the match. However, they failed to close it out.

Their exit makes things easier for the Indo-Pak Express, also in the same half of the draw. The second seeds Rohan Bopanna [ Images ] and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi [ Images ] are now firm favourites to face top seeds Leander Paes [ Images ] and Mahesh Bhupathi [ Images ] in what remains an eagerly anticipated men's doubles final.