Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles survived a scare before defeating Prakash Amritraj and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi to advance to the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon men’s doubles event on Monday.

The fourth-seeded Indo-Bahamian pair overcame some nervous moments before edging past the Indo-Pak pair 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 in a thrilling third-round encounter which was suspended for a while due to rain. Bhupathi and Knowles converted five of the 12 break points they earned.

The combine faced a tough battle from the start as their unseeded rivals were not willing to let go without a fight. Despite winning the first set, the going was never easy for the fourth seeds as Amritraj and Qureshi staged a spirited fightback in the second and drew parity.

With scores level, the third set turned out to be a rollercoaster ride as both sides fought to take the set to tie-breaker. However, Bhupathi and Knowles used their experience to seal it 7-3 after a 55-minute battle.

In the decider, Bhupathi and Knowles never allowed their opponents much leeway and raced away to 4-0 when rain suspended play for half an hour. However, the break had very little effect on the performance of the Indo-Bahamian pair and they clinched the next two games to knock their rivals out.

Federer packs off Soderling

Roger Federer remained the epitome of cool, Venus and Serena Williams hurtled towards another final showdown and Centre Court’s new roof finally closed as showers interrupted a heatwave at Wimbledon. After the mercury had shot past 30 degrees to herald the tournament’s second Monday, grey clouds rolled in, raindrops fell and former champion Amelie Mauresmo and world number one Dinara Safina became the first players to contest a competitive point under the gleaming canopy.

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