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Paes-Raja in third round
Leander Paes and Purav Raja fought off a match-point to shock formidable fifth seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray and progress to the men doubles third round at the Australian Open here on Saturday.
Melbourne: Leander Paes and Purav Raja fought off a match-point to shock formidable fifth seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray and progress to the men doubles third round at the Australian Open here on Saturday.
The unseeded Indian pair beat the Brazilian-Briton team 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(6) after battling for close to three hours. The left-handed Murray, ranked No. 9 in doubles and Soares, number 10, were one of the most consistent performers in the 2017 season, but Raja's superlative net play in Saturday’s outing proved decisive.
It was a tight contest from the start, and after splitting the first two sets the third was locked 5-5 in the tie-breaker when Murray earned his side a match-point on his second serve.
Raja, though, served extremely well to not only save that match-point, but also earn one for the Indians with excellent play at the net. Soares then served down a match-point and Raja delivered a stunning backhand return winner to seal the issue.
Paes and Raja, who won two Challenger level titles to close the 2017 season, are playing their second Grand Slam together. At the 2017 US Open, they fell in the second round.
Now they will fight it out with Colombian 11th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah for a place in the quarter-finals.The last time the 44-year-old Paes played a quarter-final at a Grand Slam was in 2016 at the French Open, where he and Marcin Matkowski lost to Mike and Bob Bryan.
"We kept creating chances, they kept on showing their class, we kept going at them, they kept coming back. Purav did get a lot of credit back in the locker room where guys were watching the match," said Paes.
"Our camaraderie counts, we live close to each other in Mumbai and we work out together. That shows when the match is poised at 6-6," the oldest Grand Slam doubles winner said. Paes at 44 and Raja at 32 form the oldest pair in the tournament.
