It was supposed to be a crowd puller, but ended up with the spectators making a hasty retreat to the exit doors.

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Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi teamed up on a rare occasion, only to end up on the losers' side against former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek and sister Michaela.

Played under lights with mercury falling below seven, on the sidelines of the ABN Amro Tennis Challenge eight-player men's event, the result came as a dampner for the thousand and odd crowd who had waited through the chilly weather all evening.

Sania, nursing a lower back strain, had said in jest at the pre-event press conference that she would take it competitively if it was an India-Holland official tie.

But with Shikha Uberoi losing to Michaela and Bhupathi to Krajicek in the singles, it meant a 3-0 win for Holland.

Not that the result mattered. The spectators wanted fun, and that was the one element missing through the whole affair.

Being 11 months on the circuit, the players were very much in the Tour mode. There was no Connors like gimmicks, nor were the tennis skills like McEnroe or Federer.

Shikha arguing a line call was the height of it.

The unimaginative scheduling only made sure that the final of the tournament proper was delayed and played under lights in cold conditions.

By the time the Sania-Mahesh match began after that, a section of the crowd had already left the arena.

Whereas there was no takers for the quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday, and on Sunday when the stadium was at least half full, there was no showman on the show court.