NOV 25: Leander Paes thrives playing in front of home supporters. But for the second time in as many Challengers, the Indian hero of many a epic Davis Cup battle became a first-round casualty. It happened in Ahmedabad last November and it happened here today -- just hours after zipping into the city from the United States to defend his status as the No 1 seed in the Famous Grouse ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger.

Paes was among the four Indian losers (the others being the three wild cards, Kirtane cousins Sandeep and Nitin and young Harsh Mankad), leaving his famed partner, Mahesh Bhupathi, as the host country's solitary interest in the $ 25,000 (plus hospitality) championship.

At 277, David Nainkin was way down on the ATP computer in comparison to the 114th-ranked Paes. But it was certainly not going to be easy for a man who was flying in from the freezing climes of Hartford to sunny Mumbai and switch from indoor carpet to the cowdung-layered outdoors. After 20 hours of flying, Paes arrived here at 2.00 in the morning, checked into his hotel at around 4.00 and was on court for some practice by 11 before playing his match at 3.30 against a man who has beaten him on both the occasions they have met.

``Leander is a much-improved player since I last met him (in Salem Open last year). But I fancied my chances. It's very difficult to play coming off the plane. I had the advantage of getting acclimatised to the climate and practicing here for two days and playing a doubles match,'' the 27-year-old Nainkin who beat compatriot Wayne Ferreira at the US Open last year.

Points were coming far too easily for the gum-chewing South African as Paes committed a spate of unforced errors. The Indian packed a lot of wallop in his shots, but the necessary ball control was missing. And with Nainkin playing a fine percentage game and returning serves beautifully, there was very little hope for the Indian ace as he was broken twice in each set.

In a fleeting moment of the second set, Paes raised a flicker of a hope of a revival when he attacked the net to gain a breakback in the fourth game and then hold serve for 3-2 with an ace.

``Yes, I was worried at that stage,'' admitted Nainkin after the match. But the ravages of the jet lag proved too much as Paes just caved in.

Bhupathi, who was playing for the first time in the city since his under-14 days, considered himself ``lucky'' after winning his first round 6-4, 6-3 with two breaks in each set against 294th-ranked Briton Luke Milligan. ``There were five or six occasions in the match when I was down 0-30. But I was able to pull through with some big serves. I really had no energy in me (after the long flight from Hartford). I could have been in trouble had my opponent attacked like Nainkin,'' said Bhupathi, who was looking a lot fitter and lighter.

The 228th-ranked Indian now runs into Martin Lee, the 19-year-old world No 1 junior last year, who ousted third seed Andrei Merinov (Russia) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.

Teenager Harsh Mankad put up a spirited performance in only his second outing in a Challenger when he led the experienced Eyal Erlich, the fourth seed, 4-2 in the second set. ``It was the first time I was playing against a player of this class and I am still learning,'' said the Indian after his loss.

Nitin Kirtane rallied from 1-4 down to win the first set 7-5 and then lead 2-0 in the second against lucky loser Barry Cowan, who came in for eighth seed Daniele Musa (Italy). The Briton took time out for injury in the third game of the second set.

``That upset my concentration,'' said Nitin, who lost 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.Sandeep Kirtane, beaten 4-6, 5-7 by Japanese Goichi Motomura, admitted that he served poorly and did not attack as much as he should to pay the penalty.In the evening's final match, fifth seed Orlin Stanoytchev joined Paes and Merinov at the exit. Stanoytchev, like Paes, was not in the proper physical condition to play after arriving only in the wee hours of the morning following his title triumph in the Portoroz Challenger in Slovenia on Sunday. He lost 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 4-6 to Andrei Stoloarov.

Results (seedings in prefix)

Singles (1st round): Mahesh Bhupathi (India) bt Luke Milligan (Great Britain) 6-4, 6-3, David Nainkin (South Africa) bt 1-Leander Paes (India) 6-2, 6-4, 4-Eyal Elrich (Israel) bt Harsh Mankad (India) 6-3, 6-4, Barry Cowan (Great Britain) bt Nitin Kirtane (India) 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, Goichi Motomura (Japan) bt Sandeep Kirtane (India) 6-4, 7-5, Takao Suzuki (Japan) bt Joao Cunha-Silva (Poland) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, Steven Randjelovic (Austria) bt Vladimir Volichkov (Belarussia) 6-3, 6-4, Martin Lee (Great Britain) bt 3-Andrei Merinov (Russia) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, Andrei Stoliarov (Russia) bt 5-Orlin Stanoytchev (Bulgaria) 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-4, Martin Belgraver (Netherlands) bt Satoshi Iwabuchi (Japan) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3

Doubles (1st round): 3-Barry Cowan (Great Britain) & Oleg Ogorodov (Uzbekistan) bt Julien Chauvin & Frederic Fontang (France) 7-5, 6-3, 1-Emanuel Couto & Joao Cunha-Silva (Poland) bt Vadim Kustenko & Dmitriy Tomashevich (Uzbekistan) 6-3, 7-6 (11-9)