Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi scored their first victory since reuniting as a team, overcoming a spirited challenge from Jean-Julien Roger and Horia Tecau in the first round of the ATP Apia International, in Sydney on Tuesday.
The third seeded Indo-Pak pair needed an hour and 41 minutes to get the better of the unseeded Dutch-Romanian combination 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 10-3.
They next face Treat Huey of the Philippines and Briton Dominic Inglot, who ousted Spaniards Pablo Andujar and David Marrero 6-4, 6-3 in their opening round match in the US $511,825 hard court event.
Bopanna-Qureshi suffered a first round exit at last week's Chennai Open in their first match of the season.
Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek, seeded second, open their campaign against the French pair of Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who ended singles runner-up at the Chennai Open.
Image: Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi
Photograph: Getty Images
