Monte Carlo, Apr 16: Leander Paes and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer advanced to the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters here with a comfortable straight sets victory over local pair Benjamin Balleret and Guillaume Couillard.
The unseeded Indo-Austrian pair beat the wildcards 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and eight minutes Monday.
Paes and Melzer will play Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, who were given a bye in the opening round at the 2,646,495 euro clay court event.