Paes splits with doubles partner Klassen ahead of Wimbledon

Indian tennis star Leander Paes and his South African doubles partner Raven Klassen have officially parted ways ahead of the Wimbledon grass-court Grand Slam event.

The Indo-South African duo won the Heineken Open ATP doubles title in Auckland, New Zealand and finished runners-up in the Chennai Open and the Delray Beach Open since joining forces at the start of the year.

However, a series of failures followed thereafter. The duo made a second round exit from the Australian Open and subsequently suffered defeats in the Indian Wells and Miami Masters tournaments.

Eight-time Grand Slam winner Paes has now joined forces with Canadian doubles specialist Daniel Nestor while Klassen's coach Stefan de Kock revealed that the South African would now pair up with American Rajeev Ram.

De Kock insisted that Klaasen and Paes remained 'good friends', but the intention right now was to cement a permanent partnership with the 41st ATP-doubles ranked Ram, Sport24 reported.

The pair had announced a ' temporary separation ' before the French Open.

Image: India's Leander Paes (left) and South Africa's Raven Klassen

Photograph: Simon Watts/Getty Images