Leander Paes-Martina Hingis knocked out of French Open

Indian tennis veteran Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis have crashed out of the French Open after losing in the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals.

Eighth seeded Indo-Swiss pair went down fighting to Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik and Romanian Horia Tecau 7-6, 3-6, 6-10 on Saturday at the Stade Rolland Garros.

The first set was a tight contest which went into a tie-breaker that was eventually won by Paes and Hingis.

However, the Slovenian-Romanian pair came back strongly to win the second set 6-3 and push the match in to the decider.

But Paes-Hingis failed to make an impact in the super tie-break, easily losing 6-10.

Srebotnik-Tecau next face Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Robert Lindstedt in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Paes-Hingis earlier paired to win the Australian Open in February.