Melbourne, Jan 17 (IANS) India’s Yuki Bhambri and New Zealander Michael Venus, playing their first Grand Slam, entered the men’s doubles third round at the Australian Open here Friday. The pair could next face fifth-seeded Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, who won their re-scheduled first round match, also Friday.
Bhambri-Venus stunned tenth seeds Jean-Julien Roger and Horia Tecau 6-4, 6-4 in the first match of the day on Court 8 at Melbourne Park.
Paes-Stepanek, who could not play their opener Thursday owing to extreme heat, came out next on the same court. The veterans completed the job with ease, beating Czech Republic’s Lukas Dlouhy and Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-1. The Indo-Czech combine meet Italian Daniele Bracciali and Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in the second round.
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The experienced duo are drawn to face Bhambri and Venus in the third round.
The Indo-New Zealand partnership made the most of the opportunities against Roger and Tecau to continue their unexpected run in the tournament.
Bhambri-Venus converted the break point they got in each of the set to make the difference in the 64-minute contest. On the other hand, the Dutch-Romanian pair failed to break even once and committed nine un-forced errors to their opponents’ four.
