Treat Huey and Belarusian Max Mirnyi recovered from a slow start as they outplayed Leander Paes of India and Andre Sa of Brazil, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, yesterday to advance in the second round of the Australian Open men’s doubles in Melbourne.
The 10th-seeded Huey and Mirnyi dropped their serve in the seventh game of the first frame that resulted the set loss before they slowly gained their momentum in the close second set and continued until the decider.
The victory was a revenge of sorts for Huey and Mirnyi after bowing to the same rival in the first round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand last week – a pre-tournament for the said Grand Slam.
It also arranged Huey and Mirnyi a second-round confrontation with the winner between the Australian tandem Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith and the pair of Sam Groth and Chris Guccione.
Huey and Mirnyi are gunning to eclipse their quarterfinal finish in this Grand Slam last year, which also served as their debut Grand Slam appearance as a pair.
Meanwhile, Huey paired off with Slovenia’s Andreja Klepac in the mixed doubles, hoping to improve their semifinal finish last year.
Unseeded in the field, Huey and Klepac collide with Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands and Raveen Klaasen of South Africa.