MARK KNOWLES (left0 AND MAHESH BHUPATHI (AP Photo)

Published On:Thursday, November 12, 2009

BAHAMIAN tennis ace Mark Knowles and his Indian doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi have lost their second-round match on the ATP World Tour in France.

On the hard, indoor surface yesterday at the Paris Masters, the No.3 seeds were defeated by Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Paul Hanley of Australia 6-4, 6-7 (6), 10-7 tiebreak.

Also, top-ranked Roger Federer was beaten by Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

Federer lost 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. The 15-time Grand Slam champion has never been further than the quarterfinals at the Paris Masters.

Benneteau aced his first match point and fell to the floor in tears. He is next scheduled to play countryman Gael Monfils.

Knowles and Bhupathi have clinched the No.3 spot in the Masters Tournament in London, England, which is slated to begin on November 22.

Going into the year-ending tournament, the duo trail Knowles' former Canadian partner Daniel Nestor and his new partner Nenad Zimonjic as the top seeds, followed by American identical twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.

Last week as Bhupathi took a much-needed break, Knowles teamed up with Michael Llodra of France where they reached the quarter-final at the Valencia Open 500 in Spain.

And in February, Knowles also teamed up with American Mardy Fish to win in Memphis, Tennessee, and he and American Andy Roddick got into the final of the Shanghai Open in Beijing, China, in October.

In 2007, before he and Nestor split up, they teamed up to win their only World doubles title.