Leander Paes [Images] was ruled out of the Australian Open men's doubles on Monday after he failed to recover from the ankle injury he sustained while playing last week.

Paes injured his left ankle when playing with Serbia's Nenan Zemonjic against Mahesh Bhupathi [Images] and Australian Todd Woodbridge in an ATP Tour event in Sydney.

Paes was not available for comment.

His entry in the mixed doubles event, of which he is the defending champion with American legend Martina Navratilova, is also in doubt.

Meanwhile, Bhupathi and Woodbridge were seeded third behind the pairs of Mark Knowles-Daniel Nestor of Bahamas and Canada [Images], and Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan of the US.

Zemonjic himself was paired with Wesley Moodie of South Africa and was drawn in the bottom half.

Bhupathi and Woodbridge are to take on Chris Guccione and Nathan Healey of Australia in the first round.

The Indo-Australian pair clinched their first title together winning the USD 419,000 ATP Tour event in Sydney last week.

"We had three good tough matches in Sydney. I think it was an ideal preparation," Bhupathi said.

Bhupathi would partner American Lisa Raymond in the mixed doubles.

Looking back, Bhupathi was happy about his performance in 2004 which saw him winning titles with different partners but at the same time dropping down in world rankings.

"I had a good year, five titles with different partners. I felt I played well. Now I have a steady partner and am looking forward to a good 2005," he said.

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