Bopanna-Pavlasek knocked out of Rome Masters

India's Rohan Bopanna and his Czech partner Adam Pavlasek bowed out of the men's doubles event at the Rome Masters with a straight-set defeat against the British team of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, in Rome, on Tuesday.

Bopanna and Pavlasek lost the pre-quarterfinal 3-6, 3-6 in one hour and eight minutes.

With Bopanna's defeat, India's challenge has ended in the elite clay-court tournament.

Another Indian in the fray, Yuki Bhambri had exited the ATP 1000 event with American partner Robert Galloway after losing in the opening round 1-6 2-6 to fourth seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Argentina's Horacio Zeballos on Sunday.