Top seeds take a tumble

Rick Leach and Ellis Ferreira upset the top seeds

The top two pairings in the ATP World Challenge Cup both tumbled to defeat in Bangalore on Thursday.

Top-seeded Americans Donald Johnson and Jared Palmer, the Wimbledon champions, were beaten in straight sets by Rick Leach and Ellis Ferriera.

And the second-ranked Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi disappointed the home crowd, losing to the Czech Republic pair of Petr Pala and Pavel Vizner.

Before the match I had already booked my tickets and packed my bags to go home

Petr Pala

Johnson and Palmer were left waiting on the results of other group matches to see whether they qualified for Friday's semi finals after a 6-4 7-6 (7/3) defeat to sixth seeds Leach and Ferriera in under 90 minutes.

Johnson double faulted in the opening game and Palmer's serve was broken in the seventh as their opponents comfortably took the first set.

And South African Ferreira held his nerve superbly to save four set points serving at 4-5 in the second set to force a tie-breaker.

"It was crucial that we came back and from there on we got the momentum to win the tie-breaker," said Leach, at 37 the oldest player in the tournament.

"It was a great win as we beat not only the Wimbledon champions but also the top seeds in the tournament."

Paes and Bhupathi lost on home soil

"We did not have a good day," he admitted. "We could not get on with the game. We had only one chance in the second set but Ellis came up with some good points."

Paes and Bhupathi also had cause to rue a tie-break as they went down 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 to the fourth seeds Pala and Vizner.

The Indian pair had recovered from 5-1 down to level at 6-6 in the tie-break but the Czech brothers-in-law recovered their poise to snatch the set.

"It feels great as it is not easy to beat Paes and Bhupathi in India," said Pala. "Before the match I had already booked my tickets and packed my bags to go home."