A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
The ace Indian doubles duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi take on Roger Federer/Stanislas Wawrinka in the men's doubles quarter-finals.
Indian veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, along with their respective partners, advanced to the third round of the Wimbledon mixed doubles event after notching up straight-set second-round wins in London.
Ace tennis star Sania Mirza, on Wednesday, backed the decision of experienced duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to part ways ahead of 2012 London Olympics.
India raced to a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup tie
Leander Paes beat New Zealand's Mark Nielsen 6-1, 7-6, 6-2.\n\n
Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman would look to improve their Grand Slam singles records even as veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi eye their first major title together after rejoining forces when the Wimbledon Tennis championships start in London on Monday.
Veteran Indian tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi claims it was Leander Paes' decision to end their much-hyped reunion within a year as he felt that they "were possibly a little too old on the tour and not able to gel on a consistent basis."
Somdev, ranked 68th in the world, will take on Germany's Denis Gremelmayr (ranked 110), while world No 60 Sania is drawn against France's Virginie Razzano, 38 places below her in WTA chart.
Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna dropped out of the top-10 in the ATP doubles ranking after finishing last along with Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi in group B of the season-ending finale in London.
The Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are seeded third in the men's doubles, while compatriot Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, who picked their second ATP title at Halle, Germany, last week, are seeded fourth in the grass-court tournament.
The Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after losing to eighth-seeded Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski via the super tie-break in the semi-finals in London on Saturday. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski needed an hour and 39 minutes to prevail over the fourth seeds and three-time former finalists 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 and reach their 31st tour-level doubles final.
Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi stormed into the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour finals doubles competition after an easy straight-set victory over top seeds and three-time winners Bob and Mike Bryan, in London.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi revived their ATP World Tour finals campaign with a straight- set victory over Jurgen Melzer and Philip Petzschner in a group A round-robin match, in London, on Wednesday.
Look at all the fun they had on the red carpet.
India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi suffered a 6-7(6), 1-6 defeat to Sweden's Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau of Romania in their first round Group A match of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, in London, on Monday.
Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy overcame two rain interruptions and a strong challenge from Swede Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles 6-3, 6-7 (8-6), 7-5 to enter the second round of the men's doubles match at the French Open in Paris on Thursday.
India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes crashed out of the Paris Masters tennis tournament after losing to Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas of Germany 6-3, 1-6, 8-10 in the second round of the event in Paris on Wednesday.
Aiming to win their third French Open crown together, Indian veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have been seeded third in the clay-court Grand Slam. They open their campaign against the German pair of Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner.
Yuki, ranked 93, has told AITA that if he gets direct entry into the last Grand Slam of the season, he won't be available.
India's Rohan Bopanna earned himself an opportunity to become only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam trophy by reaching the French Open mixed doubles final with partner Gabriela Dabrowski, in Paris.
The out-of-action Sania Mirza moved up two places to 86 in singles but slipped a rung to 12th in the doubles WTA rankings even as Somdev Devvarman's standing remained unchanged in the men's singles ATP list, issued on Monday.
Fourth seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi lost in straight sets to second seeds Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi to bow out of the ATP Shanghai Masters, in Shanghai on Saturday.
Veteran Indian tennis star Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis sailed into the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open with straight sets win over Australian duo Matt Reid and Casey Dellacqua, in Melbourne on Monday.
The Indian tennis duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out of the men's doubles at the China Open, losing to Croats Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic in straight sets in the quarter-finals, in Beijing, on Friday. The fourth-seeded 'Indian Express', which had won the Beijing title in 1997, went down 2-6, 3-6.
A day after sports ministry made it clear that athletes who remain unavailable for national duty would not get financial aid from it, top tennis star Leander Paes said his commitment should not be questioned since he has given his all in the last 24 years while playing for India.
Leander Paes, partnering Rohan Bopanna, suffered a rare doubles defeat in the Davis Cup as Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek gave Czech Republic a 2-1 lead over India in the World Group play-off tie, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Taking exception to top Indian tennis players' reluctance to compete in the recent Asian Games, the Sports Ministry on Wednesday said individual players will be able to avail government grants only if they undertake to be available for India whenever called upon.
Indian tennis icon Leander Paes, who will participate in the Olympics for the sixth time next year, said he is keen to promote Indian football, perhaps in the role of a brand ambassador.
Star pair Leander Paes and Sania Mirza crashed out of the mixed doubles after suffering a shock defeat, even as India's other players, including top seed in men's singles Somdev Devvarman, reached the semi-finals of five other events atthe Commonwealth Games.
Leander Paes won his eighth Grand Slam men's doubles title when he and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Rep[ublic beat the second seeded Austria-Brazil pairing of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in the US Open men's doubles final 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday.
Indian tennis star Leander Paes was ruled out of the upcoming Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Japan as he has not recovered from the back injury, he suffered during the US Open.
Indian tennis player Sania Mirza on broke into the doubles top-10 for the first time in her career as she gained a place after the US Open, where she made the third round along with Russian partner Elena Vesnina.
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Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek upset defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan to move into the men's doubles final of the US Open on Thursday. The pair, seeded fourth, bested the top seeded American dup 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
India's campaign at the US Open ended after the fifth seeded Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi crashed out following a straight-set loss to the Polish pair of Marcin Matkowski and Maruisz Fyrstenberg in the men's doubles semi-final in New York.
The fifth seeded Indo-Pak pair of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi entered the semi-finals of the mens' doubles event of the US Open defeating the British pair of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins in a gruelling three-setter.
In what would come as a massive blow to India's chances at the Davis Cup, tennis ace Leander Paes pulled out of the US Open mixed doubles semi-finals due to back spasms which also makes him doubtful for the World Group playoff tie against Japan next week.
The Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were knocked out of the US Open after they lost their quarterfinal match to Poland's Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in straight sets.
Anecdotes on Leander Paes flew thick and fast as India's tennis greats, former and present, came together to celebrate the 12-time Grand Slam winner's 21 years of representing the nation in Davis Cup.
The payment row that threatened to derail India's tennis campaign in the upcoming Commonwealth Games was resolved on Saturday with the government approving Rs 1 crore for five elite players.
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