Paes-Melzer beat Bhupathi-Bopanna, enter quarters

Monte Carlo - Tennis players Leander Paes and Jurgen Melzer overcame Indian duo and sixth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to advance to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles of the Monte Carlo Masters here Thursday.

The Indo-Austrian pair took 57 minutes to defeat Bhupathi-Bopanna 6-2, 6-3 at the 1000-point ATP clay-court tournament.

Paes-Melzer broke their opponents thrice out of the nine opportunities they got in comparison to the Indian pairings’ zero conversion rate out of two chances.

Paes-Melzer broke twice in the first set, once in the second, and held on to their service games to advance in the competition.

They will next face top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States.