Huey, partner reach US Open 3rd round

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Treat Conrad Huey and Indian partner Somdev Devvarman pulled the rug from under 14th seeded Argentines Juan Ignacio Chela and Eduardo Schwank, 6-3, 6-4, to march into the third round of the US Open doubles yesterday in New York.

Huey and Devvarman, teammates at University of Virginia, broke the Argentine pair twice and slammed three aces and three winners in the course of the 1:06 match to post the straight set shocker.

But the 26-year-old Huey, ranked 71st by the ATP in doubles play, and Devvarman (64th) will have their hands full in the third round against six-time Grand Slam doubles champ Leander Paes of India and compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, the No. 4 seeds.

Paes and Bhupathi, who took runner-up honors in the 2011 Australian Open, hacked out a 7-6(5), 6-2 triumph over Florian Mayer of Germany and Rogier Wassen of the Netherlands in Round 2.

Davis Cupper Huey is making his first appearance at the US, having been given a slot to the main draw on the strength of his ATP ranking in doubles. He had appeared in the tournament proper of Wimbledon as qualifier but didn’t get past the opening round.

Gaining confidence from their recent Challenger title, Huey and Devarrman started their US Open campaign by beating Russians Igor Andreev and Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3, 6-4, in 67 minutes. This marked the Fil-Am netters’ first triumph in a Grand Slam event.