Paes-Damm go down in semis

Fourth seeds Leander Paes and Martin Damm were ousted by higher-rated opponents in straight sets in the semi-finals of US $436,000 Medibank International Open ATP tournament in Sydney on Friday.

The Indo-Czech pair suffered a 2-6, 3-6 loss against the second seeded duo of Mark Knowels of Bahamas and Daniel Nestor of Canada in the season opener.

Another Indian hope Mahesh Bhupati, who teamed up with Fabrice Santoro, made an early exit in the tournament, held in the build up to the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam, beginning on Monday.

In the other semi-final, third seeds Paul Hanley of Australia and Kevin Ulyett of Zimbabwe beat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, Poland 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).