Paes Still Going Strong; Rojer/Tecau Make Winning Return

Leander Paes, a returning finalist at the Aircel Chennai Open (with Raven Klaasen), teamed up with Marcel Granollers to defeat Taro Daniel and John Millman 6-2, 6-3 in first-round action Tuesday.

Paes, 42, is a six-time Chennai champion and made his tournament debut in 1996 alongside Mahesh Bhupathi. He previously played with Granollers last June at Nottingham, where they reached the quarter-finals. Granollers was Paes’s 100th different partner on the ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour.

Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings, made a winning return to the court at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The top seeds defeated Jonathan Erlich and Colin Fleming 7-6(4), 6-3.

Rojer and Tecau, who finished the 2015 season by claiming the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals crown, could earn their 100th match win as a team by clinching the Doha title this week.   

The other seeded duos at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament also won their first-round matches Tuesday.

Second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, a new partnership for 2016, defeated Radu Albot and Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-3. Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, the No. 3 seeds, joined forces for a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middlekoop.

Meanwhile, fourth seeds Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya dismissed Qatari wild cards Mousa Shana Zayed and Mubarak Shanna Zayid 6-1, 6-1.