Third seeds Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi and fifth seeds Rohan Bopanna-Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi progressed to the pre-quarter-finals in the ATP Western and Southern Open with contrasting victories, in Cincinnati, on Thursday.

Paes-Bhupathi got the better of Spaniards Rafael Nadal [ Images ] and Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

They next face the Czech pair of Tomas Berdych-Radek Stepanek.

Bopanna-Qureshi beat the Argentine pair of Juan Ignacio Chela-Juan Monaco 6-3, 5-7, 10-4 in another second round match.

They will now lock horns with Michale Llodra of France [ Images ] and Serbia's Nenand Zimonjic.

No Indian is featuring in the singles event of the ATP Masters tournament.