Leander, Bhupathi advance in mixed doubles of French Open

Paris: Veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, along with their respective partners, advanced to the second round of the French Open mixed doubles event after notching up straight-set victories in the first round of the grand slam event here on Wednesday.

The fifth seeded Indo-Russian pair of Paes and Elena Vesnina thrashed Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak 6-1, 6-1 in the first-round match that lasted for 49 minutes here. The Indo-Russian pair converted six out of the nine break points, while their rivals made good use of the only opportunity that came their way. In another mixed doubles match, Bhupathi and Sania Mirza of India crossed the opening round hurdle with a 6-2, 6-4 win over American combo of Raquel Kops-Jones and Eric Butorac in another mixed doubles match. The seventh seeded Indian pair had a better winning percentage in both first and second serve and converted three out of the five break points, while their opponent squandered the three chances that they got in the 64-minute battled. India's Rohan Bopanna however tasted defeat in mixed doubles as he and his partner Lisa Raymond of USA lost 7-6(8-6) 6-4 10-6 to unseaded duo of South Africa's Natalie Grandin and Paul Hanley of Australia. PTI