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Paes-Bhupati to meet Laureau-Brien again soon

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will not have to wait long to again play S Lareau and Alex O' Brien, who beat them last week in the Stuttgart Super-9 finals. The two pairs are likely to meet in the second round of the Paris Super-9 tournament.

Seeded third, behind the top seeds Eltingh/Haarhuis and the second seeded Woodies, the Indian pair has got a bye in the first round. They are in the bottom half of the draw, with the Woodies and sixth seeds Stolle/Suk.

Potentially they could face three teams in a row who have all beaten them in their last meetings. Lareau/OBrien, Stolle/Suk (who have an easy way up to the quarter-finals), and then the Woodies (who have a couple of tough teams in their quarter of the draw).

Not an easy draw for Paes/Bhuapthi where the prize money is around $150,000 for the winners, and 370 ATP points for the title. Last year Paes/Bhuapthi lost in the first round, so they have nothing to defend.

Meanwhile the ATP rankings released for this week shows Mahesh at No 3 and Leander at No 6 in the individual doubles. The points are all very close, with the Woodies falling in between them.

The team ranking stays at No 3, with the Woodies just a few points ahead.

Leander is at No 85 and Bhuapthi is at No 352 in the singles.