Mirnyi advances to 2015 ASB Classic doubles quarterfinal

Max Mirnyi of Belarus went off on a good start at the $520,000 tournament that is underway in Auckland, New Zealand.

The 37-year-old Belarusian, in pair with Brazil's Marcelo Melo, fought hard to overcome the New Zealand duo of Finn Tearney and Wesley Whitehouse 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 10-7 in Last 16.

In the quarterfinal the Belarusian-Brazilian tandem will face the winner of the tomorrow's meeting between number one Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (the United States) and the international duet of Robin Haase (the Netherlands) and Andre Begemann (Germany).

Max Mirnyi started the season in pair with Croatia's Ivan Dodig. A week ago they duo took part in the $1.2 million tournament in Doha, Qatar, where the tandem was eliminated in the first round falling to the Spanish duo of David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco in two sets 2-6, 6-7 (2-7).

The tournament in Auckland will be over on 17 January. After that the world's best tennis players will gather in Melbourne for the first Grand Slam tournament this season, Australia Open, which kicks off on 19 January.