New York, Aug 31: Mahesh Bhupathi and his Australian partner Samantha Stosur fought till the end but could not last the challenge posed by their rivals and were shown the door in the second round of the US Open mixed doubles event here.

The Indo-Australian pair looked on course for a win after they bagged the first set but Swede Robert Lindstedt and his Australian partner Rennae Stubbs battled their way into the match to win it 2-6, 6-3, 12-10 in the tie-breaker after an hour long battle. Bhupathi and Stosur took the first step forward as they broke their rivals twice to win the first set.

However, Lindstedt and Stubbs made a strong come back in the second set to save a break point and then converted another one to level the scores.

The super tie-breaker was a close finish and both the pairs did not leave an inch before the Indo-Australian duo succumbed to their rivals' final assault to crash out of the event.

UNI