Paes-Dlouhy out of ATP Finals semis contention

Indian ace Leander Paes and his partner Lukas Dlouhy suffered a straight-set defeat against American Byran brothers Bob and Mike to be out of contention for a semi-final spot in the ATP World Tour Finals.

Paes and Dlouhy, winners at Roland Garros and the US Open this season, had lost their first Group B doubles match to Kubot and Marach and are now out of contention for the semi-finals after their 3-6, 4-6 loss to the Bryan brothers last night.

The Indo-Czech pair were broken serve once in each set in an 84-minute match by their higher-rated rivals who avenged the defeat they suffered in the US Open semi-finals.

Paes and Dlouhy could not match the better service by their American rivals who won 78 per cent of points on that count.

Paes admitted he and Dlouhy were not in their best form in the season-ending top event here.

"It was a bit of a rough outing in the last two matches. It's a bit interesting because we won two Grand Slams this year, then the last two days we've been pretty much off rhythm. Could put it down to many reasons. But, at the end of the day it's something we need to look at, go back to the drawing board," he said after the match.

Another Indian Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Mark Knowles are still in contention for a semi-final spot after the duo edged past Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in a tough Group B encounter on Sunday.