Divij Sharan and his Canadian partner Adil Shamasdin started their title defence in right earnest, defeating second-seeded Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Scott Lipsky of United States 6-2, 7-5 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $755,625 ATP tennis tournament in Bogota, Colombia, on Wednesday.
Last week, in the Hall of Fame championship in Newport, Divij and Donald Young of the US had prevailed 6-7(1), 7-6(3), 10-7 over this Mexico-American pair in the first round, before being stopped by the Aussies, Chris Guccione and Lleyton Hewitt.
If Purav Raja and Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil win their pre-quarterfinal match, they will clash with Divij and Adil in the quarterfinals. Incidentally, Divij and Purav won the title in Bogota last year.