Paes, partnering French ace Jeremy Chardy, lost 4-6, 4-6 in an hour and eight minutes to Brazilian-Canadian third seeds Marcelo Melo and Daniel Nestor on Court No.3 of the NSW Tennis Centre.

Paes is the defending champion at Australian Open, which starts next week, in the mixed doubles category with Swiss Martina Hingis.

Melo and Nestor broke the unseeded pair once each in the two sets to easily win and enter the quarterfinals. The Indo-French pair got as many as eight break point chances, same as their opponents, but failure to convert even a single one cost them the contest.

Paes’ compatriots Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna will play their respective matches on Tuesday.

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