Beijing: Heavenly interruption, vociferous crowd and their vast experience of playing together did not suffice and Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, India's best bet for an Olympic medal, will return from Beijing empty handed.
In the quarter-final match spread over two days due to rain interruption, the silky Swiss pair of Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka tamed the Indians 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes to move to the semi-finals of the doubles event, in Beijing on Friday.
Stung by his shock defeat against James Blake in the singles, Federer joined hands with Wawrinka to unleash his pent up frustration on Paes and Bhupathi and the Indians could only watch the scratch Swiss pair decimating them with ease.
Rain interrupted the match with the Indians trailing 1-4 Thursday night and things were hardly any different when the tie resumed. Federer was playing the same breathtaking tennis with Wawrinka playing the second fiddle to perfection.
In the first game on Friday, Bhupathi held his serve to reduce the gap but the Swiss hit back soon.
Wawrinka, too, held his serve and then Federer proved why he is considered among the all time greats and he sealed the set with a backhand half volley.
Their back against the wall, Paes and Bhupathi fought tooth and nail in the second set, desperately hoping to stay afloat. The first nine games went with the serve and the Swiss did not relax even though they were leading 5-4.
The 10th game started on an ominous note with Bhupathi's return twice sailing wide and Wawrinka making it 40-15 with a scorcher of a return.
Leander smashed one up front hoping to hang around but even he could not delay the inevitable and India's medal hopes went up in smoke when Bhupathi, for the umpteen times, knocked it long and wide.
"We just could not figure out what Roger was doing in the court. He proved why he is among the all time greats," a dejected Paes later said.
"It was a heartbreak for us. We've played together so long and it (Olympic medal) was the only thing missing in our showcase. We came to it on a couple of occasions and had half chances too, but in the end, we could not do it," Paes said.
"Probably you cannot do much when you have the best player in the world on the other side of the net and with him a player who does not miss anything. It was unbelievable the way Federer came out blazing all guns. It seems they have consulted someone who knows our game very well, especially the way they were serving," he added.
Asked if he got the impression that Federer was enjoying himself, Paes said, "Probably little too much."
Bhupathi too was in pensive mood and said, "It was very disappointing. We came here as prepared as we could have and played quality tennis in the last two rounds. Too bad we could not do it, that too on our independence day."
Both Paes and Bhupathi dismissed the notion that they could not recreate the old chemistry.
"There was nothing like that. We felt that right after we landed here," Bhupathi said.
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