NEW YORK: Pakistan’s tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Finnish partner Jarkko Nieminen entered the second round of men’s doubles at the US Open here on Thursday.

The pair defeated Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, 4-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4 in a match that lasted two hours and eight minutes.

Golubev and Istomin were in a strong position to take the match in straight sets when Qureshi and the Finnish number one Nieminen fought their way back into the match.

The two pairs were evenly matched throughout the three sets, however, Qureshi and Nieminen were able to convert all the break points they earned, helping them bag the last set.

They now meet tournament second seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in the second round.

Previously, Qureshi and Prakash Amritaj of India reached the third round of men’s doubles at the Wimbledon Championships.