Paes-Hill in second round
of men's doubles

Indian ace Leander Paes and Michael Hill of Australia advanced into the second round in the men's doubles at the US Open on Friday. The 13th seeds beat the Italian pair of Mussimo Bertolini and Cristian Brandi 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in a first round match which was delayed because of rain on Thursday.

They meet Wayne Arthurs and Andrew Kratzmann of Australia, who accounted for Matias Boeker and Robby Ginepri of the United States 6-2, 6-4.

Partnering women's tennis legend Martina Navratilova, Paes also advanced into the second round in the mixed doubles.

Second seeds Donald Johnson and Jared Palmer also had a tough time making it to the second round. After inclement weather forced an overnight delay, Johnson and Palmer overcame a sluggish start to beat Marius Barnard and Jim Thomas 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.

Johnson and Palmer won the Wimbledon crown last year, and were finalists at the 2001 US Open. After finishing the year ranked No. 2, they won at Dubai and Sydney in 2002.

They now face Simon Aspelin and Andrei Olhovskiy in the second round.