Newport Beach Challenger 2018: Paes-Cerretani enter semifinal

Paes and Cerretani, seeded second, advanced in the USD 150,000 event after receiving a walkover from the local pair of Frances Tiafoe and Michael Mmoh, who encountered a shoulder problem.

Published : Jan 26, 2018 19:01 IST

Leander Paes (in picture) and James Cerretani are now up against Marcelo Arevalo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela. (File Photo)

Veteran Leander Paes and his American partner James Cerretani did not have to move a sinew in reaching the semifinal of the Newport Beach Challenger even as Vishnu Vardhan and N. Sriram Babalji were ousted from the Rennes event in France.

Paes and Cerretani, seeded second, advanced in the USD 150,000 event after receiving a walkover from the local pair of Frances Tiafoe and Michael Mmoh, who encountered a shoulder problem. They are now up against Marcelo Arevalo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, who knocked out Aliaksandr Bury and Hsien-Yin Peng 7-5, 7-5 in their quarterfinal.

Meanwhile, at the Euro 64,000 USA tournament in France, unseeded Vardhan and Balaji suffered a close 4-6, 4-6 semifinal defeat at the hands of second seeded Sander Arends and Antonio Sancic.