Bhupathi

New Delhi: Mahesh Bhupathi’s stint with his new doubles partner Wesley Moodie of South Africa began on a disappointing note when the pair went out in the first round of the $1 million Qatar Exxon Mobile Open in Doha.

The tournament’s third seeds lost 4-6, 4-6 to wildcards Austrian Oliver Marach and Lukasz Kubot last night.

This was Bhupathi’s first match with Moodie, who won the Wimbledon doubles crown in 2005 pairing Australian Stephen Huss. The Indian had a lacklustre last year when he changed partners regularly, teaming up with Todd Woodbridge, Martin Damm and Jonas Bjorkman.

His only success came in Sydney with Woodbridge.

Talking from Doha after the match, Bhupathi said he was looking to get back to winning ways at the Australian Open in Melbourne which starts on January 16.

“I have not won the doubles and mixed doubles in Melbourne and would like to claim the two titles this year,” he said.

“The goal is to start off the year well in Australia and then build from there for the rest of the year.”

Bhupathi usually starts his year with the Chennai Open, but he gave the event a miss this time.

“This was because my partner (Wesley Moodie) was entered in Doha,” the Indian doubles ace said.