Paes-Wawrinka enter Cincinnati quarters

The Indo-Swiss tennis combine of Leander Paes and Stan Wawrinka earned a three-set victory to enter the men's doubles quarter-finals of Cincinnati Masters here.

The unseeded pair ousted Canadian-American eighth seeds Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock 7-6(4), 3-6, 10-3 in an hour and 17 minutes on the outdoor hard courts of the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Tuesday.

The first set was a neck-and-neck affair and was evenly contested as neither pair gave even a single breakpoint opportunity to the other. No break of serves meant the set entered the tie-breaker where Paes and Wawrinka proved a tad bit better to seal the set 7-4.

The North American pair came back stronger in the second set to earn as many as nine breakpoint chances to none of Paes and Wawrinka. However, they managed to convert only one but it was enough to clinch the set and push the match into the decider.

Veteran Paes showed his class when it mattered. The 42-year-old was brilliant at the net which helped the Indo-Swiss combination to easily clinch the super tie-break 10-3 and march into the last eight stage.

Another Indo-Swiss combine -- Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis -- will play their women's doubles second round here on Wednesday against German-Polish pair Julia Goerges and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik. The top seeds had received a bye in the first round.