By IANS,
New Delhi : Leander Paes celebrated his 35th birthday in grand style combining with Mahesh Bhupathi in their first outing in the run-up to Olympics to beat Swiss Yves Allegro and Sebastian Prieto of Argentina at the Ordina Open in s’Hertogenbosch in Netherlands Tuesday.
The ‘Indian Express’, seeded second, pulled off a 6-3 7-6 (3) win over Allegro and Prieto to move into the second round of men’s doubles.
Playing together in an ATP main draw after a long time, Paes and Bhupathi hit five aces and managed to convert on one of five break points to win in little over an hour.
Paes is a two-time former champion at the event, winning in 1999 and 2006 with different partners, while the 34-year-old Bhupathi is making his debut here.
The three-time Grand Slam champions put aside their differences and came together to regain their touch of yore before representing India in the Beijing Olympics, where they are a strong medal contender.
Rohan Bopanna, playing with American Robert Lindstedt, lost the first round match to Argentine Guillermo Canas and Juan Martin Del Porto 2-6 1-6 in 41 minutes.