Melbourne, January 26: Veteran Indian star Leander Paes and partner Jelena Ostapenko made a winning start in Melbourne as the pair reached the second round in the mixed doubles event of the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, compatriot Rohan Bopanna, who reached the second round along side Nadiia Kichenok on Saturday (January 25), progressed to the quarterfinals in Melbourne on Sunday (January 26).
Paes and Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, erased a one-set deficit to edge out local wild cards entrants Storm Sanders and Marc Polmans 6-7(4) 6-3 10-6 in the opening round which lasted one hour and 27 minutes.
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Paes is competing in his last Australian Open, having announced that 2020 is his final year on the Pro circuit.
They will next face American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Briton Jamie Murray, who knocked out top seeds Marcelo Melo and Barbora Strycova 3-6 6-4 10-7 in their opening round.
Bopanna and his Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok defeated the team of Nicole Melichar and Bruno Soares 6-4 7-6(4) in their second round.
In the quarters, Bopanna and Kichenok will face the winners between the pair of Barbora Krejčíková, Nikola Mektic and Amanda Anisimova, Nick Kyrgios.
(With PTI inputs)
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