Paes-Dlouhy, Bopanna-Nieminen in ATP QFs

Indian Davis Cuppers Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna advanced to the quarterfinals of different ATP events after registering first round victories with their respective partners.

Paes and his Czech partner Luaks Dlouhy had to toil hard to beat German pair of Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (4), 5-7, 10-3 in the World tennis tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The second seeded Indo-Czech pair dropped their serve thrice and could convert just two of nine breakpoints but ultimately relied on their experience to prevail in the super tie-breaker. They next face Russian-Polish pair of Igor Andreev and Marcin Matkowski.

At the $600,000 SAP Open in the United States, Bopanna and Finland's Jarko Nieminen beat American pair of Rajeev Ram and Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-4 in the first round in 58 minutes.

The winners broke their rivals twice in each set and dropped their serve once in the second set. In the quarterfinals, Bopanna-Nieminen will lock horns with the winners of the first round match between top seed Americans Bob and Mike Bryan and Thailand's wild card entrants Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana.