WASHINGTON, July 18: India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Tommy Ho of the United States lost to the US pair of Geoff Grant and Mark Merklein in the second round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic tournament here today.

Mahesh and Tommy went down 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4 to bow out of the $ 675,000-prize money competition.

Chang advances

Meanwhile, top-seeded Michael Chang fought back for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Michael Joyce last night in the singles third round.

Joyce, who underwent foot surgery in April for bone spurs, had just a 2-9 match record this season. Good service returns and several great drop volleys allowed Joyce to break Chang's service twice in winning the first set.

In other action yesterday, the run of NCAA champion Luke Smith of Australia ended as he lost to No 11 Brett Steven of New Zealand 7-6 (7-1), 6-2.

Also yesterday, David Wheaton continued his comeback from foot surgery, advancing to the quarter finals with a 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-1) upset over No 5 Jason Stoltenberg.

Doug Flach, a stunning winner over Andre Agassi on Wednesday night, dropped a three-set battle to unseeded German Rainer Schuttler 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

In other third-round matches: No 2 Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, defeated No 16 Fernon Wibier of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4; No 8 Tommy Haas, a 19-year-old phenom from Germany, edged No 9 Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4; No 7 Scott Draper of Australia beat Steve Campbell 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) and No 14 Vince Spadea rallied to beat Michael Tebbutt of Australia 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.Quick win for Seles

MAHWAH: Monica Seles allowed Terry Ann Zawacki, the local favorite, to have one moment to dream before swiftly bringing her back to reality last night in their second-round match at the A&P Tennis Classic.

Much to the delight of the sellout crowd, Zawacki who had to win a qualifying event, broke Seles' serve in the opening game of the match. The top seed bounced right back, however, to take six straight games to win the set and went on to a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.