Lee-Hesh in quarters
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi launched their Olympic preparations with an emphatic straight sets win in the men's doubles event opener at the Ordina Open in The Netherlands.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi appeared to have begun from where they left off, launching their Olympic preparations with an emphatic straight sets win in the men's doubles event opener at the euro 349,000 Ordina Open in s'Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.
The second seeded Indian pair defeated Swiss Yves Allegro and Sebastian Prieto of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (3) to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament, a warm-up for the Wimbledon Championships.
Another Indian in the fray, Rohan Bopanna, with his American partner Robert Lindstedt, bit the dust in their opening round match, losing 2-6, 1-6 to the Argentine pair of Guillermo Canas and Juan Martin Del Porto in just 41 minutes.
Meanwhile, second-seeded Richard Gasquet was upset 7-5, 7-6 (6) by fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel in the second round. The 31-year-old Gicquel fended off seven break points to beat his countryman for the first time in three encounters and advance to the quarterfinals of the grass court tournament. He next plays Austria's Jurgen Melzer, who upset fifth-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
In the women's draw, defending champion Anna Chakvetadze of Russia defeated Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1).
Prakash closer to Wimbledon main draw
New Delhi: Prakash Amritraj and Sunitha Rao moved a step ahead to qualify for the Wimbledon Championship in their respective categories after registering contrasting first round wins in the qualifying competition.
Indian Davis Cupper Amritraj defeating Jean-Rene Lisnard in straight sets in men's singles while Fed Cup member Sunitha came from behind to win a three-setter against Raquel Kops-Jones in the ladies' event. Amritraj, ranked 311 on the ATP charts, beat his higher-ranked opponent from Monaco 6-2, 7-6 (4) to advance to the second round. Lisnard, currently ranked 218, had reached second round of the Wimbledon Championship in 2005.
Amritraj now takes on 13th seed Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the next round.
Sunitha beat Raquel 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 in her opening match. The second highest-ranked Indian next faces either 15th seed Olga Puchkova of Russia or Tara Moore of Britain.