India's [ Images ] Rohan Bopanna [ Images ] and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi [ Images ] of Pakistan entered the third round of the men's doubles at the Australian Open [ Images ] after a hard-fought victory over Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Arnaud Clement [ Images ] in Melbourne [ Images ] on Friday.

The 'Indo-Pak Express' won 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

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Bopanna and Qureshi, who had an easy first round outing on Wednesday against the Brazilian pair of Franco Ferreiro and Andre Sa [ Images ], faced a tough challenge from the French duo.

The 10th-seeded Asian duo scored just one break-point in the first set, but lost the momentum in the next.

The deciding set witnessed a keen contest, but the Indo-Pak pair cashed in on the opportunities that came their way to prevail after 90 minutes.

Bopanna and Qureshi, runners-up at last year's US Open [ Images ], next play France's [ Images ] Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimmonjic of Serbia.

Meanwhile, the Indian pair of Leander Paes [ Images ] and Mahesh Bhupathi [ Images ] face Spain's Feliciano Lopez [ Images ] and Juan Monaco of Argentina in their second round match on Saturday.