Bhupathi-Vesnina lose Wimbledon mixed doubles final

LONDON: Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi failed to notch up his third Wimbledon mixed doubles title as he and his partner Elena Vesnina were outplayed by Jurgen Melzer and Iveta Benesova in straight sets in the final on Sunday.

The fourth seeded Indo-Russian pair lost 3-6, 2-6 to their ninth seeded opponents in a 51-minute summit clash at the center court.

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Austrian Melzer and Czech Republic's Benesova, who have not lost a single set on their way to the title, were the dominant pair for most part of the final match with better serve and returns.

Bhupathi and Vesnina found their opponents' serve too hot to handle most of the time as the Austrian-Czech duo had as many as seven aces to the Indo-Russian duo's two - with Melzer serving at lightning pace without reply on many occasions.

Bhupathi and Vesnina were broken serve in the fourth game as Melzer and Benesova raced to 4-1 lead before winning the first set 6-3 in 24 minutes.

In the second set, Bhupathi and Vesnina were broken in the third and seventh games to lose it in 27 minutes and surrender the match.

With the loss on Sunday, Bhupathi failed to equal his once estranged doubles partner Leander Paes' 12 Grand Slam titles as he remained on 11 Major crowns - seven in mixed doubles and four in men's doubles.

Wimbledon

Bhuapthi has not won a Grand Slam title since clinching the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles trophy along with compatriot Sania Mirza. All of Bhuapthi's mixed doubles titles have come with different partners.

Paes has won six men's doubles and as many mixed doubles titles.