Leander Paes and Purav Raja ousted Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray. (Source: AP) Leander Paes and Purav Raja ousted Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray. (Source: AP)

Leander Paes and Purav Raja upset fifth seed Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares to move into the third round of the men’s doubles at the Australian Open in Melbourne. The Indian pairing won 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 in a marathon two hour and 54 minutes contest. They next face the pairing of 11th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia in the round-of-16.

One of the most consistent doubles team on the tour in 2017 and the 2016 Australian Open champions, Murray-Soares were broken twice in the match despite facing a staggering 17 break points. In comparison, Paes and Raja were broken four times out of seven opportunities that were created by the Brit-Brazilian pairing. The Indian pair were headed for the exit door in the third set when Murray and Soares had a match point at 6-5 in the tiebreak. At that moment, Raja served excellently and produced brilliant set of hands at the net to overturn the deficit and bring up match point for his team instead.

Not done with the heroics, Raja hit a return winner on Soares’ serve, who was defending the match, to seal the contest and take the team forward at the Australian Open.

Paes and Raja would rue not closing out the match earlier especially as they squandered five break point opportunities in the second set. In sharp comparison, Murray and Soares converted the only break chance that came their way to force a decider.

Paes and Raja are playing their second Grand Slam together after forming a partnership last year and clinching two Challenger titles. At the US Open in Flushing Meadows in 2017, they were beaten in the second round.

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