London (PTI): Leander Paes' dream of winning his 10th career Grand Slam went up in smoke after Mark Knowles and Anna-Lena Groenefeld defeated the Indian and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black in straight sets to lift the Wimbledon mixed doubles title here on Sunday.

The top seed Indo-Zimbabwean pair were no where near to their best as Knowles and Groenefeld, seeded ninth, took one hour and 28 minutes to overcame their fancied opponents 7-5 6-3.

After their triumph in the US Open last year, Paes and Black had a poor run in the circuit, making second round exits from both the Australian as well as the French Open.

The Indo-Zimbabwean pair, who had a more or less easy run en route the final here, clearly lacked on-court chemistry today and made numerous unforced errors that cost them dearly.

Contrary to the result, Paes and Black started the match on a confident note and broke their opponents twice in the opening set -- fifth and seventh game -- to race to 5-2 lead.

But riding on the top seed's unforced errors, Knowles and Groenefeld clawed their way back into the match and won five consecutive games, which includes a double break in the ninth and 11th games, to pocket the first set 7-5.