Paes Starts Final Season With Win In Pune

Leander Paes will wrap up his 29-year ATP Tour career this season, but as he proved on Tuesday at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, he won’t be content with a mere nostalgia moment.

The former doubles World No. 1 and eight-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion, teaming with Matthew Ebden, kicked off his final year with a victory by defeating second seeds Artem Sitak/Divij Sharan 6-2, 7-6(5). Ebden/Paes will play Purav Raja/Ramkumar Ramanathan or Egor Gerasimov/Sumit Nagal in the next round.

Doubles at its best!

Well played, @Leander & @mattebden ?@MaharashtraOpen | #TOM2020pic.twitter.com/42V1xxRmYb

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 4, 2020

”Playing in India, on home soil, is always something special to me,” Paes said. “To motivate the youngsters to be the best they can be is something I’ve strived to do my whole career. I hope we can have a great turnout this week.”

At the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, top seeds Kevin Krawietz/Nicolas Mahut started their week with a tight 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-4 win against Adrian Mannarino/Hugo Nys. They’ll take on Nikola Cacic/Mate Pavic in the quarter-finals. Ivan Sabanov/Matej Sabanov saved set points in both sets to defeat Pablo Carreno Busta/Joao Sousa 7-6(7), 7-6(8).

Third seeds Jurgen Melzer/Edouard Roger-Vasselin enjoyed an easier day with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez in just 49 minutes. Next up for them are Tomislav Brkic/Ante Pavic, who defeated Simone Bolelli/Roman Jebavy 6-4, 6-4.

The Cordoba Open in Argentina saw third seeds Marcelo Demoliner/Matwe Middelkoop cruise past Pedro Cachin/Juan Pablo Ficovich 6-1, 6-1 in 41 minutes. Awaiting them in the last eight are Federico Gaio/Pablo Martinez, who defeated Federico Coria/Cristian Garin 7-6(5), 6-1. Facundo Bagnis/Guido Pella rounded out the day with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Pablo Cuevas/Hugo Dellien.