French Open 2016: Leander Paes-Martina Hingis shock fourth seeds to enter quarter-finals

Paris, France: India’s Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis moved a step closer to their first French Open crown together as they breezed into the mixed doubles quarter-finals after dispatching fourth seeds Yaroslav Shvedova and Florin Mergea, in Paris on Saturday. Unseeded Paes and Hingis, who won three Grand Slams together in 2015, erased a one-set deficit to eke out a 2-6 7-5 10-6 win over a formidable combination in the rain-hit second round contest. [caption id=“attachment_2599052” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Leander Paes and Martina Hingis. AFP[/caption] After losing their serve twice and breaking their rivals once, Paes and Hingis were trailing 2-3 when skies opened up, halting the match. After play resumed, Paes and Hingis could not win a single game, losing three games in a row to surrender the opening set. The Indo-Swiss had its share of chances but converted only one of the four break chances. They almost dropped serve in the third game but managed to hold. It was a tight contest from thereon with two pairs locked 5-5. Shvedova and Mergea were serving to force a tie-breaker but Paes and Hingis capitalised on the second break point to drag it to a Super Tie-breaker. They led 4-1 and then 8-4 before clinching the issue on their third match point. They now await winners of the second round match between top seeds Hao-Ching Chan and Jamie Murray and Daria Gavrilova and John Peers.