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Stepanek cops a curious case of tennis elbow

Tour veteran Radek Stepanek went down with an unlikely injury in his round-one doubles match with Vasek Pospisil on Wednesday.

Trailing Aussie duo Matthews Barton and Ebden 1-5 in the first set, Pospisil lined up a serve as the No.12 seeds attempted to work their way back into the match.

Instead the ball trailed off and caught Stepanek way off guard, shocking the 38-year-old so much so that he went straight to the bench.

Stepanek was certainly hurting and he didn't appear to be laughing.

The friendly fire must have had some effect on the duo, too, as Barton and Ebden went on to win 6-2 6-4.

Stepanek ran off to take a seat. Pic: Channel 7

Barton and Ebden all but dominated the match, winning 90 per cent of their first-serve points, as Stepanek and Pospisil had zero break-point opportunities.

The win marked a long-awaited first doubles victory at the Australian Open for Ebden after seven previous first-round losses.

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