London: India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek was ousted from ATP World Tour Finals after losing a must-win Group B match, here on Saturday.
Seventh seeds Paes and Stepanek lost their final Group B contest 6-4 6-7 (5) 8-10 to Spanish pair of Mark Lopez and Marcel Granollers in one hour and 49 minutes.
Paes had qualified for the season finale for the 14th time, having finished runner-up with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 1997, 1999 and 2000 and in 2005 with Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic.
Paes and Stepanek end their season together with a 15-8 match record on the season, which includes winning the US Open.
In the match on Saturday, Lopez and Paes each saved three break point opportunities, including deciding deuce points, in the third and fourth games of the first set.
Paes and Stepanek had an opportunity to qualify with a 1-2 record had Marrero and Verdasco beaten Peya and Soares in straight sets. However, second seeds Peya and Soares completed round robin play with a 2-1 record after they defeated sixth seeds Marrero and Verdasco 6-3, 7-5 in 68 minutes, during Friday’s evening session.
Lopez and Paes each saved three break point opportunities, including deciding deuce points, in the third and fourth games of the first set. Stepanek earned the first break of serve when he anticipated a Granollers backhand by rushing across the court to hit a high forehand volley winner at 30/40 on Granollers serve.
Paes and Stepanek could have led 5-2, but Lopez proved to be fleet of foot in striking a crosscourt forehand off-balance into the narrowest of gaps. Stepanek went on to clinch the 38-minute opener with a solid hold to 15. Paes belied his 40 years with a number of athletic volleys.
The Spaniards came under pressure once again at the start of the second set. But Granollers managed to survive a deciding point deuce, with a body serve to Stepanek, who was broken on his own deciding point in the fourth game.
Granollers and Lopez earned a confidence boosting hold for 4-1, before Paes and Stepanek mounted a comeback by hurrying Lopez into error at 4-2, 30/40 to get the set back on serve. In the tie-break, Granollers struck a backhand volley winner off a Lopez second serve at 6-5.
Paes and Stepanek targeted Lopez in the longer rallies early on in the Match Tie-break. Paes, where possible, took risks and snapped up half chances close to the net. The duo led 3-1, but Granollers and Lopez regained their composure to win seven of the next eight points, combining groundstroke power with outstanding net play reactions, for an 8-4 advantage. The duo clinched their third match point opportunity for their 31st win in 54 matches as a team in 2013. The match lasted one hour and 49 minutes.
