Leander Paes and Purav Raja have upset 2016 Australian Open champions Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Brazilian Bruno Soares, edging them out 7-6(3) 5-7 7-6(6) after saving a match point.
The Indians put their sublime doubles skills on full display against the No.5 seeds before finally snatching the victory after nearly three hours in front of a packed house.
Paes, an 18-time major champion, said that, as a team, they earned some significant street cred with the win.
“Soares and Murray are Grand Slam champions, they were one of the most consistent pairs in 2017. We kept our composure today and kept coming at them. It was really nice.”
At 44, Paes is now the oldest man in the Open era to reach the third round in a major. “It’s what keeps me going now, to rewrite the history books,” he said. “It’s fun. What else is there?”
However, it was the younger and less known man, Raja, at 31, who showed his prowess, the quickness of his hands gaining significant praise from their opponents after the match.
When asked to assess his partner – incredibly, the 119th of his career – Paes grinned. “Ask me in six months,” he said.
With 2017 winners John Peers of Australia and Finn Henri Kontinen (the No.2 seeds) dumped from the tournament on Friday, it leaves the door wide open for top seeds and co-world doubles No.1’s Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo to claim their maiden Australian Open title together.
Kubot and Melo were untroubled on Saturday, easing past Australian wildcards Max Purcell and Luke Saville to enter the third round.
While Nick Kyrgios withdrew from his doubles encounter with partner Matt Reid to concentrate on his continuing singles campaign, there were plenty of other Australians in action around Melbourne Park, none more respected than former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt and the retiring Sam Groth, whose farewell tour rolled on for another round with a 7-6(2) 4-6 7-5 victory over third seeds Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Romania’s Horia Tecau late into Saturday night on Show Court 2.
There was double disappointment for Aussie Ash Barty as she suffered her second AO exit of the day alongside Casey Dellacqua, the No.3 seeds falling to Americans Jennifer Brady and Vania King 6-4 6-2 after Barty’s third round singles loss on MCA against Naomi Osaka.
Earlier, their countrywomen Anastasia Rodionova teamed with Ukraine’s Nadiia Kichenok to oust Czech Kristyna Pliskova and Donna Vekic of Croatia in a third-set tiebreak.