Second seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi went down in the semi-finals of the Telecom Italia Masters in Rome, Italy.

It was their first loss on�clay this year and also ended their ten-match wining streak.

The duo were beaten by�the Aussie pair of�Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley 6-7(6), 3-6 in the semi-finals.

The first set was closely fought as Bhupathi/Mirnyi came back from a break down at 4-5 to send the set into the tie-breaker. They dropped a minibreak at 6-6 and lost the set.

The second set started with a blitzkrieg from the Aussies, who won 12 of the first 14 points including a break in the second game to lead 3-0. Thereafter,�games went with serve as the Aussies went on to take�match.

The Aussies went on to win the title. They defeated the seventh seeded French pair of Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro 6-1, 6-3 in the final.

Arthurs, ranked No.36 in doubles on last week's ATP rankings, and Hanley (No.38), did not drop a set all week at the $2.45 million event.

They accounted for sixth seeds Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett, Roger Federer and Paradorn Srichaphan�and the No.2 pair of�Bhupathi and�Mirnyi before�the final.

Llodra and Santoro are the reigning Australian Open champions, and�their defeat by Arthurs and Hanley is significant in view of the upcoming French Open later this month.

Bhupathi/Mirnyi and Leander Paes/David Rikl will be in acton at the Hamburg Masters this week.