Meanwhile, in the biggest upset so far, fifth seeded Ellis Ferreira and Rick Leach crashed out to Julian Alonso and Nicolas Lapentti in three sets. In effect, the next highest seeds in the Indian duo's quarter are out of the way. In another upset, eighth seeded Jonathan Stark and O'Brien also bounced out in the first round while Dutch pair Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis cruised into the second.

PAES-LARISA TOP SEEDED: Leander Paes and Larisa Neiland have been top seeded in the mixed doubles event. Meanwhile, defending champion Mahesh Bhupathi has found a new partner in Rennae Stubbs of Australia. Paes' partner, the 32-year old Larisa Neiland is ranked No 8 in WTA doubles, and is perhaps the most experienced doubles veteran on the women's side. She has two Grand Slam doubles titles and four GrandSlam mixed doubles titles to her credit, including a Roland Garros mixed doubles title in 1995 with Mark Woodforde. She was also in the mixed doubles finals at the 1997 Australian Open with Woodforde. She is pairing with Russian teen sensation Anna Kournikova in the ladies doubles. Rika Hiraki, the diminutive Japanese who partnered Bhupathi on the way to the French Open mixed title last year, has paired up with Australian Paul Kilderry.

FAZALUDDIN LOSES: After a creditable upset win against Egberto Caldas of Brazil, ranked No 570, in the second round, Syed Fazaluddin lost to Frenchman Cyril Martin 2-6, 3-6 at the $ 15,000 Futures at Boca Raton, Florida on Friday.