Leander Paes celebrated his 42nd birthday by making it to the men’s doubles quarter-finals of the ATP Aegon Championships at Queen's Club, on Wednesday.
The Indian ace and Canadian partner Daniel Nestor, seeded third, needed 81 minutes to get the better of unseeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia and Robert Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6(3), 3-6, 10-7 in the first round.
They next meet the Spanish pair of Marc Lopez and multiple singles Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
The two teams broke each other once before Paes-Nestor sealed the opening set via the tie-breaker.
In the second set, Paes-Nestor were unable to convert any of the six chances they got and dropped serve once which was enough for Troicki-Agut to keep their hopes alive and take the match into the ten-point super tie-break, in which the experience of Paes and Nestor stood them in good stead.
Image: Leander Paes
Photograph: Getty Images
