Bhupathi-Murray advance at Cincinnati Masters

NEW DELHI: Mahesh Bhupathi and his British partner Jamie Murray fought their way into the second round of the ATP Western & Southern Financial Group Masters after a tough encounter in Cincinnati, United States.

The Indo-British pair beat Argentina's Juan Monaco and Australian Todd Martin 7-6 (1) 6-7 (5) 10-3 yesterday to advance in the USD 2,200,000 hardcourt event, part of the US Open series.

Bhupathi and Murray next face top seeded Americans, Bob and Mike Bryan, who got a bye to the second round. The Indian, along with Czech Republic's Pavel Vizner had beaten the Bryan brothers on their way to the title at the Montreal Masters in Canada last week.

Meanwhile, Leander Paes and his Czech partner Martin Damm, seeded fourth in the tournament, received a bye in the first round and will now face the eighth seeded combination of Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle of Austria.