Paris, France, 1 June 2018 | tennis.com.au

Australian doubles star John Peers is into the French Open third round – and remains in contention to rise to world No.1.

The 29-year-old combined with Finnish partner Henri Kontinen to record a comprehensive second round men’s doubles victory on Thursday. The third-seeded duo needed only 42 minutes to defeat Bosnian pair Mirza Basic and Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-2.

It is the third time Peers has advanced to this stage in Paris – matching third round runs in 2014 and 2015. A career-best quarterfinal is the reward should Peers and Kontinen defeat unseeded Italian combination Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi in the third round.

Peers is one of three players, along with Croatian Mate Pavic and Poland’s Lukasz Kubot, in contention to finish the tournament as the world’s top-ranked doubles player. Currently ranked No.7, Peers needs to make at least the final to have a chance of reaching the top spot.

But for now the Australian’s focus is on his mixed doubles campaign, which begins tonight.

Peers is partnering China’s Zhang Shuai. They face seventh seeds and Australian Open finalists Rohan Bopanna and Timea Babos in the first round.

Australians in action on day six:

Men’s doubles, second round
John Millman (AUS)/Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) v [8] Nikola Mektic (CRO)/Alexander Peya (AUT)
Court 9, first match (from 7pm AEST)

Women’s doubles, second round
[16] Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/Nadiia Kichenok (UKR) v Ying-Ying Duan (CHN)/Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Court 9, second match

Mixed doubles, first round
John Peers (AUS)/Shuai Zhang (CHN) v [7] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Timea Babos (HUN)
Court 14, third match