Paes-Bhupathi in quarter-finals; Bopanna out of Ordina Open

Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Jun 17 (UNI) India's ace doubles players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi began their Olympic preparations on a perfect note as they posted a straight-set victory in the men's doubles event at the euro 349,000 Ordina Open here today.

Seeded second in the tournament, the Indian pair overwhelmed Swiss Yves Allegro and Sebastian Prieto of Argentina 6-3 7-6 (3) to move in to the quarterfinals.

The Indian pair did not take long to rediscover their old magic and broke their rivals in the sixth game and then held on to their serves to take the lead.

The 'Indian Express' was then given some tough competition in the second set after it failed to make use of the breakpoints that came its way in third, fifth and ninth game.

However, the match went in to the tie-breaker and the Indians showed their superiority as Allegro and Prieto were found wanting at crucial stages to hand over the match to Paes and Bhupathi.

In the next round of the tournament which is a warm-up event for Wimbledon, the Indian pair will face Spaniards David Ferrer and Marcel Granollers.

Meanwhile Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna along with his American partner Robert Lindstedt were outclassed in their opening round match in just 41 minutes.

Bopanna and Lindstedt were overpowered by Argentine pair of Guillermo Canas and Juan Martin Del Porto 2-6 1-6.

The fourth seed Indo-Swede duo of Bopanna and Lindstedt were broken in the very first game of the match and could not recover from their on.

It took them five games to get on board but by then, a healthy 4-1 lead had put their opponents in a very good position.

Things did not change in the second set as Bopanna and Lindstedt won their first game after dropping serves in the first and third.

They again dropped the seventh to crash out of the tournament.

UNI XC RAR KN2104