PARIS: Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer crashed out of the French Open on Monday after they lost their men’s doubles third round match to the South American duo of Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos.

Uruguayan Cuevas and Zeballos of Argentina defeated the sixth-seeded duo 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to progress to the quarter-finals where they will face either the Spanish duo of Roberto Bautista and Daniel Gimeno Traver or the Polish pair of Tomasz Bednarek and Jerzy Janowicz.

Defeat for Aisam and Rojer meant they failed to match their last year’s exploits at Roland Garros where they reached the semi-finals before losing to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan.

They managed to make the break to in the twelfth game of the first set against Cuevas and Zeballos to close at 7-5 but their opponents started a comeback by winning the second set 6-3.

The third set was the most exciting one of the match. Cuevas and Zeballos were 5-3 up but Aisam and Rojer stormed back to draw level and force a super tie-break.

The South Americans then went 4-0 up but Aisam and Rojer hit back again before eventually losing it and bringing to a close an intense battle which lasted 2 hours and 22 minutes.

Aisam will now turn his attention to the mixed doubles event where he has reached the quarter-finals along with his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black while for Rojer, his French Open campaign comes to an end after he lost in the mixed doubles second round on Sunday.—Agencies