Bopanna-Qureshi pair advances to pre-quarters in Monaco

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi overcame a stiff resistance from Julian Knowle and Vasek Pospisil before moving to the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, in Monte Carlo on Tuesday.

The Indo-Pak pair battled past the Austrian-Canadian combo 7-6 (2) 6-4 in one hour and 15 minutes in its opening round of the euro 3,452,415 clay court event.

There was no break of serve in the opening set as Knowle and Pospisil saved both the chances they faced.

In the second set, Bopanna and Qureshi were broken but they managed to break their rivals twice to seal the issue.

The experienced Indo-Pak pair fired 10 aces to just one by their rivals, who were also guilty of committing three double faults.

Bopanna and Qureshi are now up against seventh seeded pair of Lukasz Kubot from Poland and Robert Lindsret of Sweden.