Paes enthralls crowd, Prajnesh stretched at Bengaluru Open
A near-capacity crowd cheered retiring Indian tennis legend Leander Paes as he and his partner Matthew Abden eked out a straight set win to advance to the second round of the men's doubles in the Bengaluru Open here on Wednesday.
As Paes walked into the stadium for his warm-up, minutes before his first round doubles match, the spectators were on their feet, cheering the 18-time Grand Slam winner and Olympic medallist, who in all probability is playing his last ATP event on Indian soil.
Earlier in the day, his Australian partner Abden lost a gruelling three setter, each one decided via tie-breaker, to Egypt's Mohamed Safwat in a match that lasted a little over three hours.
His tiredness seemed to have vanished in Paes' presence so much so that he looked to be the dominant partner between the two as they beat Slovenian-Chinese combine of Blaz Rola and Zhizhen Zhang 7-6(2), 6-4 in the first round match.
Meanwhile, India's top ranked player and defending champion Prajnesh Gunneswaran, ...