India's Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan entered the third round of the men's doubles at the Australian Open after a hard-fought victory over Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Arnaud Clement in Melbourne on Friday.
The 'Indo-Pak Express' won 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Bopanna and Qureshi, who had an easy first round outing on Wednesday against the Brazilian pair of Franco Ferreiro and Andre Sa, faced a tough challenge from the French duo.
The 10th-seeded Asian duo scored just one break-point in the first set, but lost the momentum in the next.
The deciding set witnessed a keen contest, but the Indo-Pak pair cashed in on the opportunities that came their way to prevail after 90 minutes.
Bopanna and Qureshi, runners-up at last year's US Open, next play France's Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimmonjic of Serbia.
Meanwhile, the Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi face Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Juan Monaco of Argentina in their second round match on Saturday.
At 30, Rohan Bopanna is just starting
Doubles is about the team: Aisam
Chennai Open: Indian challenge ends in singles
Bopanna-Qureshi stun Bhupathi-Mirnyi
Bopanna-Qureshi, Bhupathi-Mirnyi score