Bhupathi-Knowles get first round bye.

NEW DELHI:  India's Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Mark Knowles of Bahamas got a bye in the first round of the doubles event in the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament in Monaco.

The Indo-Bahamian duo, seeded fourth in the tournament, will start their quest for a third ATP doubles title this season against the winners of the match between the Brazilian combination of Marcelo Melo and Andre and French-Serbian pair of Richard Gasquet and Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.

Bhupathi and Knowles had earlier won back-to-back titles in Memphis and Dubai without dropping a set before their 10-match winning streak ended in the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters to the eventual champions Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.

Meanwhile, the unseeded pair of Leander Paes and Australian Paul Hanley will have a tough task in their opening match as they face clay court specialist Argentine pair of Davis Nalbandian and Sebastian Prieto.

If Paes and Hanley get past the opening round, they will be up against second seed Israeli pair of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the next round.