Paes-Bhupathi get easy first round draw

Newly-crowned French Open champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will open their bid for a second Wimbledon title with a first round match against David Adams of South Africa and Michael Llorda of France, according to the Wimbledon draw released on Tuesday.

The Indian duo, ranked second in the world and seeded sixth, should have no problem in crossing the first hurdle against their unseeded opponents, given their recent form on the ATP tour despite losing in the semi-finals of the Queen's Club tournament, a Wimbledon warm-up grass court event, over the weekend.

The top-seeded pair of Jonas Bjorkman and Todd Woodbridge have been drawn to play their opening match against French pair of Arnaud Clement and Nicolas Escude.

The Paes-Bhupathi tandem won the prestigious Wimbledon and French Open titles in 1999 and also reached the final of the other two Grand Slams the same year on their way to becoming the top doubles pair in the world.

Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the year, starts on June 25.