Yuki-Venus into pre-quarters; Paes-Stepanek march to 2nd round

Melbourne: Wild card entrants Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus created a big upset by dumping 10th seeded Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau out of the Australian Open while Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek scored an easy straight sets win, here today.

Yuki and Venus shocked the experienced Dutch-Romanian pair 6-4 6-4 in the second round in just 64 minutes.

Yuki and Venus, playing their first Major, did not face a single breakpoint in the contest and broke their rivals once in each set to move to the next stage.

There is a possibility that Yuki may find Paes, one India's most decorated player, as his rival across the net in the pre-quarterfinals.

Fifth seeds Paes and Stepanek scored an easy 6-4 6-1 win over Lukas Dlouhy and Lukas Rosol in their opening round, which was rescheduled due to blistering heat yesterday.

The Indo-Czech pair brushed aside the challenge of the Czech pair in one hour and 16 minutes as they saved all seven breakpoints they faced in the match.

They next face Daniele Bracciali from Italy and Alexandr Dolgopolov from Ukraine.