NEW YORK, Sept 2: A walkover and a retirement have propelled Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer into the third round of the men’s doubles at the US Open.

On Saturday, the ninth-seeded duo set a third-round meeting with the pair of Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr and Raven Klaasen of South Africa after their Argentine opponents Carlos Berlocq and Leonardo Mayer retired while trailing 2-1 in the first set.

It means Aisam and Rojer have reached the third round without even playing a full set after they got a walkover against the pair of Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan and Taiwan’s Yen Hsun Lu in the first round.

Mayer’s withdrawal came after he was severely dehydrated during his men’s singles second-round victory over Spaniard Tommy Robredo on Friday. Although he recovered, he could hardly last three games in the doubles match against the Pak-Dutch duo.—Agencies