Bopanna-Cuevas advance at Monte Carlo Masters

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (France) April 19 (IANS) Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas beat Marcin Matkowski of Poland and Austrian Alexander Peya to enter the second round of the men s doubles event at the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament here on Wednesday.

Bopanna and Cuevas overcame a strong challenge to win the first round clash 6-3 6-7 10-2 in one hour and 27 minutes at the Monte Carlo Country Club.

The Indo-Uruguayan combination will meet Raven Klaasen of South Africa and American Rajeev Ram in the second round. Ram and Klaasen were handed a bye in the first round.

In the singles competition top seeded Andy Murray of Britain beat Giles Muller of Luxembourg 7-5 7-5 in a tough second round encounter that lasted just under two hours.

Third seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland also entered the third round with a 6-2 4-6 6-2 win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic.

--IANS
ajb/dg