London: Leander Paes of India along with his Russian partner Elena Vesnina saw off the Belarussian pair of the Max Mirnyi and Vixtoria Azarenka 7-6 (3), 6-3 to advance into the last eight of the Wimbledon played here on Thursday.
After the win Paes is now the last Indian standing at the Wimbledon after the 10th seeded pair comprising India’s Rohan Bopanna and China’s Jie Zheng who lost 2-6, 5-7 to second-seeded Americans Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond.
Now with so much happening in the Indian Tennis circuit in run up to London Olympics, Paes now has a real good chance at making a statement ahead of the sporting extravaganza to be held later this month.
He wanted to partner Mahesh Bhupathi but then he chose to partner Rohan Bopanna and even his mixed doubles partner Sania Mirza gave took dig at him before accepting to pair up with him.
All the players who criticized him in the tennis selection row have all exited the tournament which makes him the lone Indian star fighting for the pride of the country at the tournament.
The first set was on serves by the fourth seeded pair and none of the teams could earn a break point but in then in the second set it their strong play which saw them dominate the set. They won two break points and saved seven to seal of the match.
