Leander Paes gets perfect birthday gift, reaches quarters of ATP Aegon Championships
Paes alongwith Canadian partner Daniel Nestor triumphed over opposition 7-6 (3), 3-6, 10-7
London: Leander Paes celebrated his 42nd birthday by reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP Aegon Championships with Canadian partner Daniel Nestor at the Queen's Club, here on Wednesday.
The third seeded Indo-Canadian pair fought off the challenge of un-seeded Viktor Troicki and Roberta Bautista Agut 7-6 (3), 3-6, 10-7 in the opening round of the Euro 1,696,645 grass court tournament.
It took Paes and Nestor an hour and 21-minutes match to douse the challenge of their un-seeded rivals. They next face the Spanish pair of Marc Lopez and multiple singles Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
The two pairs broke each other once before Paes and Nestor sealed the opening set via tie-breaker. In the second set, they could convert none of the six chances they got and dropped serve one time which was enough for Troicki and Roberta Bautista Agut to draw parity in the match.
However, Paes and Nestor used all their experience to prevail in the match tie-breaker.