Paes-Wawrinka in Cincinnati Masters second round

Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Stan Wawrinka rallied from a set down to beat Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy in a hard fought men's doubles first round clash at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament.

Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Stan Wawrinka rallied from a set down to beat Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy in a hard fought men's doubles first round clash at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament.

Leander Paes talks with his doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka during their match at the Western and Southern Open. (AFP Photo)

The Indo-Swiss combination took time to settle down before scripting a 1-6, 6-1, 10-6 win. They will face the eighth seeded Canadian-American team of Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock in the second round.

Former doubles World No 1 Paes and singles World No 5 Wawrinka are contesting their second tournament together. They had reached the quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Paris last October.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Ram and Raven Klaasen also advanced to the second round after edging out Tomas Berdych and Mardy Fish 7-6(5), 6-4.

The US-South African duo will face sixth seeds Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic in their next match.