The second-seeded Indo-Czech pair lost 3-6 5-7 to South African Kevin Anderson and Israeli Jonathan Erlich in 89 minutes.

The South African-Israeli combo not only relied on the serve to outplay Paes and Stepanek, but also managed to convert four out of seven breakpoints they got.

In contrast, the Indo-Czech duo was just not up to the mark, either while returning the serve or converting their breakpoints.

After losing the opening set miserably, Paes and Stepanek though put up a better show in the second, but they failed to sustain and eventually lost both the set and the match.

However, the Australian Open campaign is not yet over for Paes as he will be playing the mixed doubles with Russian partner Elena Vesnina.