Wimbledon 2012 : Paes enters 3rd round while Sania-Bhupathi out,Paes wins, Sania-Bhupathi crash out of Wimbledon,today on tennis cort

Indian tennis stalwarts Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who were locked in a selection row for the London Olympics recently, saw their fortunes take different turns today with the former reaching the third round of the men's doubles event while the latter crashed out of mixed doubles
competition of the Wimbledon in London.

The French Open champion pair of Bhupathi and Sania Mirza, who later joined the selection row by lashing out at the AITA for using her as a "bait" to pacify Paes, suffered a crushing 3-6 1-6 defeat to Australian P Hanley and A Kudryavtseva in a 50-minute mixed-doubles match at the All England Club in London.

However, Paes -- who confirmed his participation in the Olympics just on Friday -- and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek notched up a 6-2 6-4 7-6 (5) victory over Isreali combination of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in a gruelling two hour and 20 minutes battle.

Seeded fourth in the tournament, Paes and Stepanek rode on their batter serves and broke their rivals twice in the first set.

The Israeli pair started to get their bearings right in the second set but they failed to create opportunities even as Paes and Stepanek broke them once out of the five chances that came their way.

In the third set, both the pairs broke each other once but in the end it was the Indo-Czech combination who had the last laugh.

In contrast in mixed doubles event, the fifth seeded Indian duo of Bhupathi and Sania failed to match the game of their unseeded rivals and made an early exit.

The Australian-Russian duo sent down six aces and also broke the Indian pair four times out of the seven chances that came their way.

In comparison, Sania and Bhupathi failed to create any break opportunity and also had three double faults and four unforced errors.

The Indians, who would not be playing together in next month's London Olympics after the All India Tennis Association (AITA) paired Sania with Leander Paes in mixed doubles, were better than their rivals in their first serve but they failed miserably in the second serve in the opening set.

In the second set, Sania and Bhupathi looked lacklustre as Hanley and Kudryavtseva sent down four aces and pushed the Indians to commit unforced errors and sealed the match comfortably.

Wimbledon 2012: Maria Sharapova v Anastasia Rodionova - live!,tennis today news

First set: *Sharapova 5-1 Rodionova
The stunned Centre Court crowd are trying their best to buoy up Rodionova. And it works. Rodionova gets to 40-30, her first game point, although two quick points later it's set point Sharapova. The Russian blinks, and it's deuce. Advantage Rodionova. Deuce.

Advantage Rodionova. Deuce. Advantage Sharapova. Deuce.

Advantage Rodionova. Deuce. Advantage Sharapova. Deuce. Advantage Rodionova. Game Rodionova! That probably took as long as the other five games combined.

First set: Sharapova 5-0 Rodionova*
Wait, Sharapova is human after all. The Russian sends a forehand long at 15-0, and lets up again at 40-15, but Rodionova then scoops a backhand long as Sharapova holds to 30. 5-0 in 14 minutes. Will I still get paid for this? "Motorbiking to work this morning, I spotted a hoarding of La Sharapova advertising Evian," chirps Gary Naylor. "Just for a moment, I thought it was her in person, but even she's not 12 foot tall is she? I live only a couple of miles or so from the AELTC, but I've never seen a player in Tooting during 27 Championships - I wonder why?" The way she's playing, Sharapova probably feels about 20 foot tall right now.

First set: *Sharapova 4-0 Rodionova
Sharapova takes the first point with a vicious forehand drive volley. Then it's a blistering backhand return winner. Rodionova rolls her eyes, and before she knows it it's 0-40, three break points. And she flunks a forehand into the net. There's the double break. This is brutal.

First set: Sharapova 3-0 Rodionova*
Um, I'm already running out of ways to say this. Sharapova is completely dominant and holds to love. She's conceded just the one point in six minutes. At this rate, the Centre Court patrons will be off having their tea and sandwiches quicker than you can say "double bagel".

First set: *Sharapova 2-0 Rodionova
Rodionova can't buy a point. 0-15, 0-30, 0-40, three break points. But look, Sharapova nets! 15-40. But Rodionova responds in kind, slapping a tame forehand into the net. Exasperated, the Australian raises her arms to the skies.

First set: Sharapova 1-0 Rodionova* (*denotes next server)
Sharapova opted not to play a warm-up tournament on grass following her French Open win, not that you'd know the way she starts here. 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, game. In less than a minute. Though Rodionova helps by throwing in a mixture of unforced errors. Already she's struggling with the depth and power of Sharapova's shots.

It's sunny! Enjoy it while it lasts. According to the Wimbledon weather man it'll be raining by tomorrow.

Tok, tok, tok, they're on court and warming up. This is usually the time when I'd describe the players' garish outfits. But because it's Wimbledon, of course they're wearing white. Though Sharapova does have a flash of yellow on her straps. Rodionova won the toss and has chosen to receive.

Pre-match stat attack. We've got some new stats for you this year, courtesy of IBM. They've been looking at the keys to this match, which you can access via their SlamTracker.

Pre-match musings. Sharapova's thoughts on switching from the red clay of Roland Garros to the green grass of Wimbledon: "I think it's the toughest back-to-back grand slam-wise, without a doubt. Especially if you're coming off a French Open win, or a final, it's the toughest turnaround. As much as you want to celebrate and enjoy it, you come here and it's like a whole new ball game. But I think that's the beauty of tennis, there's so much out there to achieve. It always seems like it's back to back, so that's nothing really new."

Venus Williams is out. The five-times champion looked a shadow of her former self in a 6-1, 6-3 defeat to Elena Vesnina. Her last Wimbledon appearance? Possibly. Though she will be back for the Olympics later this summer. Xan has more in his blog.

Afternoon all. OK, OK, so England are out of Euro 2012. But there's a tennis tournament going on too, you know. And why dwell on another England quarter-final defeat on penalties, when you can look forward to another Andy Murray semi-final defeat to Rafael Nadal?

But I'm getting ahead of myself. After Novak Djokovic's straightforward win over Juan Carlos Ferrero, it's now Maria Sharapova's turn to lay down a marker on the pristine Centre Court. Fresh from claiming a maiden French Open title, completing a career grand slam and regaining the world No1 ranking, Sharapova is looking to win Wimbledon for the first time since stunning Serena Williams in the 2004 final. Here's a reminder of that, in case you're feeling nostalgic.

Sharapova's victim opponent today is the world No133, Anastasia Rodionova. They're two of the 26 "ovas" in the women's draw, my programme notes reliably inform me. And this is an all-Russian clash of sorts; Rodionova was born and grew up in Russia, although she now represents Australia.

Sharapova hasn't lost a set in her four previous encounters against Rodionova, while Rodionova is 0-18 against top-10 ranked opponents. So a straight-sets win it is, then.