Paes advanced to quarterfinals in Monterrey Challenger in Mexico

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan put behind a tiring 34-hour long journey to start his temporary partnership with Marcelo Alavero with a facile win at the Monterrey Challenger in Mexico where veteran Leander Paes also advanced to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The left-hander and his partner from El Salvador, came out 6-2 7-6(5) winners against Adrian Menendez-Maceiras from Spain and Markn Vervoort from the Netherlands in the opening round of the USD 150,000 hardcourt tournament.

Jeevan flew to Mexico from Chengdu in China where he reached the final but had to reschedule his tickets from Japan, from where flights were affected due to bad weather.

Jeevan will play with Aravelo in a few tournaments as his regular partner Austin Krajicek is busy with family commitments.

The third seeds next face Paolo Lorenzi and David Luis Martinez, who beat local wild card pair of Luis Patino and Gerardo Lopez Villasenor 6-3 6-3 in 62 minutes.

In the top half of the draw, top-seeded pair of Paes and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela overcame fighting Spaniards David Ferrer and Pedro Martinez 6-3 6-4 in 62 minutes.

They next face Ariel Behar and Roberto Quiroz, who knocked out Austrian team of Gerald and Jurgen Melzer 6-4 4-6 11-9 in their opening round.