Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes, Sania Mirza enter second round of French Open

Leander Paes and Daniel Nestor

Paris, May 27 (IANS)

Indian tennis players Rohan Bopanna, Leander Paes and Sania Mirza advanced into the second round of the men's and women's doubles competitions, respectively of the French Open here on Wednesday.

Bopanna partnering with Romanian Florin Mergea defeated Serbian duo Filip Krajinovic and Viktor Troicki 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round at the Stade Roland Garros. The first set was a close contest which was finally clinched by Krajinovic and Troicki. But Bopanna-Mergea came back strongly to win the second set 6-3 and followed it up by clinching the third set 6-4.

Bopanna-Mergea will next face American combine Austin Krajicek and Donald Young in the second round, who earlier beat Maxime Teixeira and Florent Serra 6-1, 6-3.

Paes-Nestor made to work hard for their win

Meanwhile, Paes along with Canadian Daniel Nestor beat Australian pair James Duckworth and Chris Guccione 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in the first round. Paes-Nestor showed their dominance right from the word go winning the first set 6-2 in a one-sided affair.

But the Australian pair refused to give up. In a tight game, although Paes-Nestor had the upper hand, Duckworth-Guccione held their nerves till the end to level the game by winning the second set 7-5. The third and final set was the most entertaining one as the game swung on both sides but the Indo-Canadian pair had the last laugh, winning it 7-5 to wrap up the match and cruise into the second round.

Top seeds, India's Sania paired up with Swiss Martina Hingis to outplay Germany's Julia Görges and Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcíková 6-3, 6-0 to enter the second round. The Indo-Swiss pair were in full flow right from the start as they lost just three games and won 12 in the match, to steer themselves into the next round.