Wednesday, August 30 2006 15:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Leander Paes and Sania Mirza are Tuesday (29 Aug, 2006) seed sixth and seventh in the men's and women's doubles respectively at the US Open Grand Slam tennis.

Paes and Czech Republic's Martin Damm will take on Czech duo Petr Pala and Robin Vik in the first round.

The Indian star is in the top half of the draw, which also features his compatriot and former partner Mahesh Bhupathi.

Bhupathi, partnering Xavier Malisse of Belgium, will come up against Leos Friedl of Czech Republic and Russian Mikahil Younzhny in the opening encounter.

Sania is paired with South African Liezel Huber with whom she won the Bangalore Open title and reached the final in two other WTA Tour events.

The Indo-South Africa combination will launch their campaign against Angela Haynes and Neha Uberoi of the US.