Paes, Bhupathi in quarters

India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were inundated with fans seeking their autographs and pictures after winning their doubles match at the Japan Open tennis tournament on Thursday.

Paes and Bhupathi, the 1999 French Open and Wimbledon champions, survived a close battle against the eighth-seeded Australian duo of Paul Kilderry and Peter Tramacchi before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round.

"We won a first close match; it gave us a lot of confidence. We are getting better every match we play. It's a positive side," said Paes after the match, in which only one break in each set decided the winners.

"Also the combination was good today. We encouraged each other even when things were not looking so good and kept each other positive and in good spirits."

Although it was an outside court and current French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten was attracting spectators at the centre stadium, some 50 fans kept Paes and Bhupathi busy with autograph signings.

"It's nice; it's because I won the mixed doubles with two Japanese girls," smiled Bhupathi, who won the 1997 French Open with Rika Hiraki and the US Open with Ai Sugiyama last year.

Paes, who was beaten in the singles second round, and Bhupathi are now aiming for the first Japan title for India since Ramesh Krishnan won the singles in 1986.

"That's something that we look forward to, trying to keep the tradition going," said Paes.

In the quarter-finals, they will take on second-seeded duo of Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and David Prinosil of Germany.