Indian tennis veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi made it to the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open with their respective partners after clinching comfortable wins here.
While Bhupathi and compatriot Rohan Bopanna got the better of Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Rafael Nadal 6—4 6—3, Paes and his Czech teammate Radek Stepanek defeated the British pair Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins with a similar scoreline.
The sixth—seeded Indian combo was in complete command against the Spaniards as they dominated from the word go to overcome them in a battle that lasted an hour and 14 minutes.
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Bhupathi and Bopanna, who had recently won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, dropped only five points on their first serves for victory.
They will take on third seeds Michael Llodra of France and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic in the quarterfinals.
Seventh—seeded Paes and Stepanek also had an easy outing against the unseeded British duo as they took just an hour and 22 minutes to cruise past them.
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The Indo—Czech pair won as many as 13 break points but could convert only four of them. But on their part, they also saved as many as seven breakpoints out of the eight that their opponents got.
Paes and Stepanek will now face Spaniards David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco.