Bopanna-Cuevas pair advances to second round in Monaco

Rohan Bopanna progressed to the second round in Monaco.

Monaco

Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas recorded their first win together at the Masters level when they downed Marcin Matkowski and Alexander Peya in the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters, here.

The unseeded Indo-Uruguayan pair fought past the rivals 6-3, 6-7(7), 10-2 in an hour and 27 minutes. They had played in two Masters series event — Indian Wells and Miami — and lost in the first rounds in both.

Bopanna and Cuevas next face fifth seeds Raven Klaasen from South Africa and American Rajeev Ram who got a bye in the first round. Bopanna has made two finals this season — winning the season-opener Chennai Open with Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and ending runner-up with Matkowski at Dubai Championships.