London: India's Prakash Amritraj and Pakistan's Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi on Friday setup a third round meeting with fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi (India) and Mark Knowles (The Bahamas) in the men's doubles competition the of Wimbledon tennis championships.
Qualifiers Prakash and Qureshi defeated Australian Rameez Junaid and German Philipp Marx in a marathon five-setter 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-7 (3), 8-6.
Bhupathi and Knowles got the better of Germany's Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya of Austria 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the second round. The Indo-Bahamian pair had taken out Indian Somedev Devvarman and South African Kevin Anderson in the first round.
Bhupathi and Knowles looked well set to wrap up their match in straight sets but lost the third set tie-break. Barring that glitch, Bhupathi and Knowles were impressive, finishing the match in two hours and 41 minutes.
Bhupathi and Knowles got an early break in the fourth game of the first set and swiftly moved ahead 4-1 before Bhupathi served out the set after staving off two break points.
Petzschner and Peya served accurately in the second set and a reflex volley in the fourth game from the Austrian gave them a 3-1 lead. The two with an easy hold in the next game took a 4-1 lead.
The fourth seeds attacked Peya's service in the seventh game but failed to convert three break points to fall behind 2-5. And just when one thought the set is all but gone in their opponent's favour, the Indo-Bahamian pair reeled off four games in row. Knowles wrapped-up the set in his serve.
The third set saw neither pair dropping their serve and effect a tie-breaker, which Petzschner and Peya won.
Bhupathi and Knowles stepped up the gear in the fourth set and with a break in the eighth game, when Petzschner mishit a lob, led 5-3. Knowles had no trouble in closing out the set and the match.
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