NEW YORK: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles competition of the US Open with a straight-set victory over compatriot Somdev Devvarman and his Filipino partner Treat Conrad Huey in an almost all-Indian clash.
The fourth seeded Indian pair prevailed over Somdev and Treat 6-4, 7-5 in a pre-quarterfinal clash that lasted for an hour and 32 minutes.
Paes and Bhupathi will now face sixth seeded Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the quarterfinals.
Fyrstenberg and Matkowski defeated the British duo of Jaime Delgado and Jonathan Marray 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-3 to enter the last eight.
Somdev and Treat had their moments in the game as the duo troubled the Indian pair with their aces but a series of unforced errors and failure to convert as many as five breakpoints put paid to their hopes.
The Indian Express, on the other hand, stayed away from unforced errors and converted two break points out of the seven that came their way. They also hit 37 winners compared to the 30 sent down by Somdev and Treat.
Another Indian, Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi are also in the quarterfinals and will take on unseeded British pair of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins for a place in the semis.
Meanwhile, World number one Novak Djokovic set up an all-Serbian quarter-final at the US Open, while Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to a Grand Slam rematch.
Djokovic, who has lost just two matches in a spectacular season that has seen him win the Australian Open and Wimbledon as he surged to number one, yesterday defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 (16/14), 6-4, 6-2 to advance to a last-eight meeting with friend and Davis Cup teammate Janko Tipsarevic.
Third-seeded Federer dismantled unseeded Argentinian Juan Monaco 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 to line up a clash with France’s Tsonga, the man who rallied from two sets down to beat him in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Tsonga, the 11th seed, doused the hopes of eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Their three-hour, 43-minute tussle on the Arthur Ashe court helped ensure that Federer didn’t take the court until shortly before midnight.
Federer and Monaco also had to wait out the protracted battle between women’s world number one Caroline Wozniacki and former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Once they had, a focused Federer appeared determined not to stay up any later than he had to.
He won the first set in 18 minutes and by the time it was all over he had blasted 42 winners — including 14 aces — past the hapless Monaco.
After breaking Monaco in the opening game of the second set, Federer won the next game with four straight aces.
Tsonga and Fish, in contrast, battled for almost four hours, both finding the going tough in the swirling afternoon winds.
Meanwhile, World number one Caroline Wozniacki came back from a set and 4-1 down to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova and reach the US Open last eight just as her lofty status again looked too heavy a burden to bear.
The Dane, who is still searching for an elusive Grand Slam title to support her top ranking, yesterday saw off the tiring 2004 champion Kuznetsova 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, 6-1 and will now tackle Germany’s Andrea Petkovic for a place in the semi-finals.
It was a huge struggle for the 21-year-old Wozniacki on a night of fluctuating fortunes on Arthur Ashe Stadium in a gruelling 3hr 2min encounter.
She surrendered a 5/2 lead in the first set tiebreak and then slipped 1-4 down in the second set before 15th-seeded Kuznetsova’s game fell to pieces.
Wozniacki evened the contest on a third set point in the second set and then clinched breaks in the first and fifth games of the decider.
Earlier, Serena Williams eased closer to a fourth US Open title Monday, storming past Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 to set-up a quarterfinal clash with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the youngest player left in the draw.
Williams, seeded a lowly 28 after a year spent battling injury and serious illness, has yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows this year and former world number one Ivanovic never looked likely to break that streak.
The 29-year-old American raced into a 3-0 lead in the opening set, before 16th-seeded Ivanovic, who has never got beyond the last 16, hit back to level at 3-3.
But a break in the eighth game put Williams on course to take the opener.
Another break in the first game of the second set proved the foundation for victory which she secured when Ivanovic went long with a service return.
With defending champion Kim Clijsters not playing, and with former winner Maria Sharapova, Wimbledon victor Petra Kvitova and French Open titlist Li Na losing before the third round, Williams is comfortably the tournament favourite. (Agencies)